The Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, has urged personnel of the Ghana Police Service not to allow the recent killings of their colleagues to demoralise them, but rather, inspire them to work hard to fulfil their constitutional mandate to the state.
He also urged the officers of the Service to celebrate and honour their fallen compatriots as heroes and heroines who have died a worthy cause for their country.
The minister was addressing officers of the Service at the Regional Police Headquarters in Sunyani yesterday, as part of a working visit to the Bono Region.
The visit was to enable the minister to acquaint himself with challenges faced by agencies under his ministry, that is, Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Immigration Service, Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the National Peace Council.
Mr Dery said government would ensure that dependants and families of the departed police officers would be compensated for their loss.
He further assured them of government’s efforts to equip and empower all the security agencies to discharge their duties professionally, noting that the Police Service would soon receive two helicopters as part of other equipment government was procuring to enhance their operations.
The minister, however, directed regional commanders to ensure that personnel wear their bulletproof vests, adding that any officer who flouts the directive would be sanctioned.
Touching on other pressing issues which was of concern to the security officers was the purported scraping of “Cap 30” by the government.
The minister, however, told the officers to disabuse their minds of the rumour, explaining that the government had their welfare at heart and would not do anything to their disadvantage.
He said agencies such as NACOB and NADMO were the only institutions not part of the “Cap 30”.
The common issues that run across all the agencies visited by the minister were lack of vehicles and logistics, stalled promotions and allowances, office accommodation, among others, which the minister assured would be addressed.
FROM DANIEL DZIRASAH, SUNYANI
