The Paramount Chief of Essikado Traditional Area in the Western Region, Nana Kobina Nketsia V has charged the Ghana Police Service to put the national interest above personal parochial interest as the country inches towards the 2020 polls.

He urged the security body to stand for only Ghana by ensuring that there is no violence before during and after the 2020 polls which he described as very critical in the political history of the country.

To this end, he appealed to the police administration to be as transparent as possible in its dealings with the various political parties in order not to create an environment of suspicion which could be a trigger for political violence.

“Peace is the only thing we need to facilitate development. Stand for Ghana and eschew violence. Police officers must be transparent and fair as possible as they can to the various political parties”, the Paramount chief advised during a courtesy call on him by the Inspector-General of Police, James Oppong-Boanuh.

He expressed hope that the quest for the independence of the Ghana Police Service will soon be achieved with concerted efforts from various stakeholders including traditional rulers.

“I pray for the day that the Police Service will be a truly independent body. We have not reached there yet but I am optimistic we will get there. I wish to advise that you are appointees but stand for Ghana. Your Uniforms represent Ghana…it must be the nation first. It is Ghana and not Nigeria or America. Be more nationalistic in the discharge of duties. No tribalism but Ghana first because without peace forget development”, the paramount chief reechoed.

On his part, the Inspector-General of Police assured the Chief that his administration will live up to the bill of discharging its duties professionally hinting that measures have been put in place to sanction officers who defy directives.

He assured Ghanaians that on Election Day, the officers of the police service will be as professional as they can to ensure that the elections go on without any incident.

“We are going to be very impartial, we are going to be professional in everything that we do. If a policeman goes wayward, we have our regulations or our SOPs that deal with whatever we are supposed to do on that day. If people don’t comply with it, we have our system of taking them through disciplinary procedures. So we can assure Ghanaians that we will make sure that all police officers are professional on that day,” he stated.