Ghana Has Been and Continue to Be a Peaceful Country – IGP

The Inspector-General of Police – IGP, Mr. James Oppong Boanuh, yesterday said, Ghana is a peaceful country and will continue to be a peaceful country.

He made this assertion at a three-day annual National Police Command Conference held at the Royal Senchyi Hotel and Resort at Akosombo In the Eastern Region.

According to the IGP, the conference is a significant event that allows the leadership of the Service to collectively deliberate and reflect on past initiatives and performances in line with our core mandate with the view to identifying Operational challenges and addressing them for effective delivery. We do this to consolidate peace and security in the country.

The devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic did not permit the police service to meet last year for this important annual event, he said. The year 2020 was crucial for the country’s democratic dispensation as we collaborate with other security agencies to support the electoral commission to organise a successful presidential and parliamentary elections, in spite of our inability to converge and deliberate on effective strategies to combat crime.

In his submission, he disclosed that Ghana has been, and will continue to be a peaceful country. The 2020 Global peace index report produced by the Institute of Economics and Peace on June 11, 2020, ranked Ghana as the third most peaceful country in Sub- Saharan Africa. The role of the police and other law enforcement agencies in this global recognition cannot be overemphasized. However, he stated that citizens should not get carried away but continuously strive to make Ghana one of the most peaceful countries in the world.

As you may be aware, this year’s conference is being organised under the theme “The role of leadership in preventing violent crimes and prompting community safety”. This theme he said highlights the positive correlation between leadership and community safety. It also underpins the significant role leadership plays to determine appropriate strategies to combat violent crimes and promote community safety.

He however reiterated that despite the peace and security we continue to enjoy as a nation, terrorism, robbery, murder, manslaughter, arson, rape, kidnapping, assault, and domestic violence continue to threaten communities physically and psychologically. These crimes are perpetrated by a network of organised criminal gangs who are quite well resourced and equipped to commit crimes internally and externally. We need to develop sustainable security measures to insulate the communities from violent crimes. We can only do this with the collaboration of the members of the community’s support in our fight against criminals.

Members of the community should bear in mind that not only do they have a shared responsibility to support the police to collectively fight crime, but also have a civic obligation to volunteer timely, credible, and vital information to the police to fight violent crimes. He, therefore, urges the general public to support the fight. The police alone cannot fight violent and organised crimes without the continuous and active support of members of the community. We can only get this support if we exhibit professionalism in the discharge of our duties, he said.

He made a call to the commanders commanding various commands in the country to be decorous in their quest to prevent and mitigate violent crimes, and should always bear in mind to prioritize the physical and psychological well-being of personnel working under their respective Commands.

“We can only achieve our organisational mandate of maintaining law and order when we create avenues that enable personnel to appropriate solution”.

This initiative will, to a large extent, enable leaders to guide personnel and professional concerns and prevent them from engaging in acts that have the tendency to drag the image of the service into disrepute,

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As leaders of the service and key actors within the criminal justice system, collaboration with other key stakeholders is a crucial success criterion to combat violent crimes and promote community safety
It’s therefore important, as Commanders, to constantly liaise with the other security agencies to promote community safety.

The best approach to crime reduction and prevention is through collaboration between the criminal justice agencies, the private sector, civil society organisations, and local communities around the whole country.

Mr. James Oppong Boanuh in furtherance to his points said the need for better collaboration between police, Prisons, social services, the courts, and ministry of justice and now with private security organisations is more pertinent now than ever to collectively deliver improved outcomes for all involved
In conclusion, he stated that while we deliberate on multiple issues to promote community safety, let’s continue to adhere to the COVID-19 safety protocols to protect lives and prevent the spread of the virus.

Source: Franklin Cadwell