Security services urged to cooperate with political parties

The Northern Regional Elections Security Taskforce (RESTF) has been urged to cooperate with the various political parties and the media to ensure violence-free elections.      The Taskforce has in particular been urged to ensure that no two political parties held rallies on the same day and in the same town in order to avoid clashes among their supporters.      Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister, made this call when he inaugurated an eight-member RESTF as part of efforts to provide maximum security for the conduct of the 2008 elections in the Region.      The Regional Minister urged the Taskforce to hold meetings with the leadership of the political parties to know their programmes to avoid misunderstandings and also to ensure free flow of information between it and the media.      DCOP Ofosu-Mensah Gyeabour, Regional Police Commander is the Chairman of the Taskforce.      Members of the Taskforce include the Regional Security Co-ordinator; Regional Directors of Prisons, Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Immigration Service and Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and the Regional Commander of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS).      Co-opted members of the Taskforce are the Regional Director of Information Service Department and the Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC).      Alhaji Idris impressed upon the members of the Taskforce to be neutral, fair, firm and resolute in the discharge of their duties and urged them to exhibit high sense professionalism.      He urged them to strictly enforce the rules of the elections while at the same time endeavouring to win public confidence.      He said Ghana had taken a cue from the election disputes that had led to violence in countries such as Kenya and Zimbabwe and was putting in place strategic measures to forestall similar disturbances in the country.         The Taskforce would among other things, maintain law and order throughout the Region; provide the desirable peace and secured environment for successful elections in December 2008.      It is also to provide secured environment for smooth campaign by all political parties and an enabling atmosphere for the updating of the Voters Register.      The Taskforce would assist the EC to send election materials and personnel to all polling stations, particularly to the inaccessible areas.      It would help to identify all flash points and provide maximum security in those areas and also maintain close liaison with the EC and monitor post election activities to maintain law and order.      DCOP Gyeabour said the Taskforce would ensure effective policing and maintain law and order and also conduct investigations into any disputes and ensure the free flow of traffic on Election Day. GNA

CPP would live up to expectation- Dr Nduom

The Convention People's Party (CPP) would live up to expectation to make the country an enviable place to live in, if given the nod by the electorate in the upcoming elections, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, the Party's presidential candidate said on Friday.  Speaking at a forum at Essikado, near Sekondi, to begin a campaign tour of the Western Region, he said the CPP would not disappoint the people as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) have done.  CPP, he said, was determined to win political power once again and appealed to the electorate to vote for the Party to enable it to prove its competence in the management of the country's affairs.  Dr Nduom said Essikado was the cradle of the CPP and, therefore, expected the people of the Western Region and Essikado in particular, to vote massively for the Party.  "The people of the Western Region and for that matter Essikado, have the responsibility to give their full support for the CPP because of the special historical bond between them," he said.  He said the CPP had a strategic plan for the expansion and development of the Takoradi Harbour and the railway transportation system that would provide jobs for the people, adding that in order to make this a reality, the people must give their mandate to the Party in the December Elections.  A government of the CPP would also establish a petrochemical industry in the Region to enhance job opportunities for the youth, he said   The CPP Flag Bearer also said the Party had an edge over the other political parties because it understood the country's challenges better and abhorred violence as a campaign strategy.  Dr Nduom promised to discourage pair trawling to boost the operations of local fishermen.  Mr Mike Eghan, National Treasurer of the Party, said the electorate must give their mandate to the CPP, since the NPP and the NDC have disappointed them woefully.  Dr Nduom introduced Mr John Eghan, the Party's Parliamentary Candidate for Essikado-Kettan Constituency to the people and urged them to vote for him. GNA