We are investigating incidents of ‘election killings’ – IGP

Mr James Oppong-Boanuh, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) says all recorded incidents of deaths and injuries in the just-ended elections are being investigated by the Police Service.

He said the outcome of the investigations would be made known to the public.

Mr Oppong-Boanuh said the elections resulted in five deaths and 17 injuries, including security officers, which nearly marred the smooth conduct of the exercise.

The IGP, who is also the Chairman of the National Election Security Taskforce, said this on Thursday at a media briefing after the declaration of the Presidential and Parliamentary results by the Electoral Commission.

Speaking on the deployment strategies, the IGP said the Taskforce rolled out a four-tier deployment strategy for the elections, which revolved around static duties at the polling stations and collation centres.

He emphasized that the core election duty at the polling stations and the collation centres had a personnel of various security agencies without the involvement of the Military.

“The Military was not involved in the duties at the polling stations but were called in under rapid response and emergencies only”, he stated.

Touching on security measures during the post-election phase, Mr Oppong-Boanuh assured Ghanaians that appropriate security measures had been put in place to guarantee maximum security per the Service’s constitutional mandate.

“We will continue to maintain law and order during the post-election phase to ensure that people go about their normal activities devoid of intimidation and attacks”.

The IGP warned any person or group of persons who intended to foment trouble to desist from such acts because the Taskforce would deal decisively with such elements in line with the laws.

He commended the Taskforce and stakeholders who supported them to effectively discharge their mandate to guarantee the sanctity of the general election.

The Task Force deployed 62,794 personnel nationwide to guard all the 275 collation centres and 40,000 polling stations across the country and ensured law and order in the just-ended presidential and parliamentary elections.

Members of the Taskforce were drawn from the Police Service, Military, Fire Service, Prison Service, Immigration Service, Customs Service, and the Bureau of National Investigations.

Source: GNA