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Wa West District: NCCE holds durbar to foster community - police relations

The Wa West District Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) organized a community durbar to foster a cordial relationship between the community and the police.

Date Created : 7/16/2024 12:00:00 AM : Story Author : Tahiru Lukman/ ghanadistricts.com

The durbar held on July 4, 2024 at Siriyiri was necessitated by the NCCE’s continuous commitment to building tolerance and national cohesion among the police and the people.

Admittedly, violent extremism has become a new threat to community co-existence government needs the people’s efforts to defeat it in order to intensify the socio-economic transformation of the nation.

The increasing threat of Jihadists in the Sub-region has renewed calls for Ghana to double its efforts in building a resilient community as well as establishing effective policing mechanisms.

It is in this spirit that the Siriyiri community has been chosen for the community durbar given its fast-growing pre-urban nature which suggests a possible influence of behaviours and characters which can result in violent extremism.

The program saw the chief of the community, assembly member, queen mother and Imam in attendance. Other members were opinion leaders, clans and family heads, women groups, youth leaders and women and young people. There were over 150 people a significant number of participants have experienced the NCCEs continuous campaign against violent extremism.

The Wa West District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education Madam Esther Suglo particularly appealed to participants to take a deep interest in contributing their efforts to preventing crimes and violent extremism. She used the occasion to introduce the two resource persons for the durbar and also lauded the European Union for the continuous support as the provide funds for the project in Ghana.

The Wa West District Police Commander re-orientated the chief and people of Siriyiri to have a positive mindset about the Ghana Police Service. The district police commander stressed that; the police institution is a creation to ensure that lives and properties are protected and for that matter, their work is anchored on ethics, morality, law and professionalism.

On the need to deepen relations and security at the community leader and by extension the Wa West District, the Commander, DSP Richard Tamatey urged the community members to stop protecting and hiding criminals as well as accepting strangers into their homes in the spirit of solidarity. He admonished them always reach out to community leaders and the police whenever there were suspicious characters.

Concerning the formation of community watchdog committees; the district police commander further urged the communities to identify young people and forward their names and contact to his desk for further engagement. He pointed out that; young people of good standing should be considered to be part of the community watchdog committee.

The district police commander further schooled the chief and the people of the Siriyiri community to understand the process of reporting crimes and requesting bills.

He noted that bailing out someone who has been invited to the police station is free and no one is expected to pay monies before securing a bill for a relation.

On contacting the police, the district police commander DSP Richard Tamatey cautioned the participants not to make prank calls; rather dial police emergency contact when there is an emergency. He also appeals to residents not to express fear and panic when engaging the police with a worthy course.

He noted, “Our personal and collective security is in our hands and we all have a duty to fight crime”.

The Chief Executive Officer of Ideapath Consult, Mr. Tahiru Lukman speaking on violent extremism did not fail to cite examples of countries in the sub-region that are engulfed with Jihadist activities.

He reminded the people of the general elections in December, adding that the 2024 election presents an opportunity for Ghana to consolidate its democratic credentials.

Mr. Tahiru Lukman noted that politics and religion are easy convenience elements that can be exploited for violent extremism.

He urged the community members to see politics as a contest of ideas and not an avenue for conflict or violence. He further appealed to community members to continue to embrace religious tolerance for a peaceful society