The Police Ladies Association (POLAS) in the Northern Region on Saturday took to the principal streets of the Tamale metropolis in an endurance march and to sensitize the public on the need to promote peace before, during and after the December polls.
The peace march also saw the Immigration Service, Prisons Service and the Fire Service’s women participating in solidarity with their police ladies colleagues. Inspector Jemima Senanu, the President of the Northern Regional branch of POLAS, said the police took the initiative to carry out the peace march because of the volatile nature of the region, stressing that the police wanted to assure the public that they were ready to carry out their duties professionally.
She said peace was synonymous with development and as a result, the police will stop at nothing in ensuring a peaceful election adding that “we are more than prepared to provide security for the nation”.
Madam Senanu indicated that the police in general had received several refresher trainings in diverse fields of conflict and riot control to make them more prepared for the coming elections.
She said the police woman was equally strong and confident like their male counterparts and must not be undermined by the public, saying ‘we shall protect the nation with all our might’.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ebenezer Tetteh, the Northern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, said the police in the region had prepared adequately for the coming elections and were going to do a massive peace march in the coming days to assure the public about the readiness of the police.
He said the police had been sensitizing the public, especially the various political parties in the region on the need to prevail on their supporters to avoid any tendencies that might jeopardize the elections.
ASP Tetteh said the police would carry out its duties professionally without bias during the elections and was awaiting more personnel from the national headquarters to beef up the numbers.
He, however, expressed worry that the registration of minors that took place during the biometric registration exercise was likely to pose a problem for the police in the region and called on the political parties to educate their supporters against allowing minors to vote.