President John Atta Mills on Thursday said Ghana’s security institutions stood in readiness to maintain law and order and to sustain the security of the country as it approached elections.

“Because 2012 is an election year, it goes without saying that our security institutions must be in a state of readiness to ensure peace and calm before, during, and after the elections."

Delivering the State of the Nation address to Parliament, President Mills said the government would lend its full support to the police, military and other institutions charged with law enforcement to act decisively and fairly.

“Our commitment to ensure the safety of Ghanaians is as strong as ever,” he said.

President Mills noted that over the past years there had been a reduction in major crimes such as armed robbery, car snatching, highway robbery, narcotics and murder and that law enforcement agents were under strict instructions to sustain the arrest of narcotic traffickers and their collaborators.

He said the government had increased the strength of the Police Service by over 4,000 and also taken steps to modernise its forensic facilities to assist in crime prevention and detection, adding that significant quantities vehicles, communication gadgets, bullet-proof vests had been provided to boost operational efficiency of the Police.

President Mills said as part of measures to boost security nationwide, the Ghana Immigration Service was expected to complete installation of Digital Border Surveillance System at strategically selected border control points.

He said the system would enhance border security “Especially in the face of new sub-regional threats of religious and ethnic nature”.

President Mills said the government would leave no stone unturned to develop a credible defence system capable of protecting Ghana’s Oil and Gas Industry and the country’s territorial integrity as a whole.

He said Ghana Armed Forces in the last three years, witnessed significant improvement in critical equipment and hardware levels, expressing optimism that those acquisitions would enable the Military’s Engineer Regiment contribute effectively to the country’s infrastructural developmental process.