Be circumspect in coverage - Task force appeals to media

Page 32: Daily Graphic, December 27, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE National Elections Security Task Force has appealed to the electronic media to be circumspect and responsible in the coverage of Sunday’s presidential run-off.
It noted that the nature of the reportage to be put out on Sunday could spark fighting and destabilisation.
The Chairman of the task force, Mr P.K. Acheampong, and the National Security Co-ordinator, Dr Sam G. Amoo, both made the appeal at an interaction with media practitioners in Accra last Wednesday.
Mr Acheampong, who is also the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), noted with regret an incident at Agbogbloshie before the December 7 general election in which someone called into a radio station to report that there had been a clash between supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and those of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), resulting in the death of two persons.
He said it was later found out that there had been no such clash nor death in the area.
He said another report was made that there were no security personnel at some polling stations just because the reporters did not find policemen in those areas.
Mr Acheampong said the country should strive towards elections which would not require police or security presence because of the maturity and civility with which Ghanaians would conduct themselves at the polls.
He urged media organisations to educate Ghanaians on the need to be peaceful and tolerant in the midst of provocation.
The IGP said he did not see why security personnel should be posted to polling stations or places where there was law and order.
He stressed the need for Ghanaians to appreciate the role of the other security agencies and not denigrate them just because they were not police personnel.
Mr Acheampong said the Ghana Police Service did not have the requisite number of personnel to be at all polling stations, adding that even with the support of the other security agencies, all the polling stations could not be manned by security personnel.
For his part, Dr Amoo reminded media practitioners of their role in society as the Fourth Estate of the Realm, hence the need for them not to put the entire estate on fire through reportage.
“You must be circumspect and responsible in what you put out in the public domain,” he said.
He said although the media did quite well in the December 7 general election, they needed to correct the minor mistakes in their reportage to avoid creating panic and confusion.
He noted that the minor mistakes could greatly impact on the entire nation if they were not corrected.
Meanwhile, security personnel to man the 22,000 polling stations are to be fully armed to deal with any electoral breach.
The decision to arm the security personnel was meant to ensure that the run-off is incident-free.
Security sources told the Daily Graphic that arms and ammunition were distributed to the security personnel on Thursday, December 25, 2008.
The sources said the personnel had been well briefed and psyched to deal with any situation before the arrival of the Rapid Deployment Forces and the military, should the situation call for that.
For the purpose of Sunday’s run-off, 8,000 security personnel have already been deployed to beef up security in the regions and districts.
The security agencies have cut down their administrative staff to increase security presence at polling stations throughout the country.
Dr Amoo, who addressed the personnel before they were bussed to their respective stations for the elections, urged them to be robust, fair and firm in the discharge of their duties.
He urged them to deal ruthlessly with anyone or group of persons who attempted to engage in lawless activities at the polling stations and collation centres.
He appealed to the electorate to support the security agencies in the discharge of their duties.
Dr Amoo said the security personnel would work harder to retain the confidence and goodwill of Ghanaians.
According to him, the security personnel were not going to engage in organising or conducting the elections but that they would support the EC in its operations.
He said they would provide security at all the polling stations and vital installations of the EC to ensure that no one disrupted the electoral process.
Dr Amoo said while the security personnel would be firm in the discharge of their duties and be fair to all manner of persons and groups, they would not tolerate any acts of lawlessness or any attempt to disrupt the electoral process.
He said any illegal use of force to disrupt the process would be met equally with legitimate use of force by the security personnel to restore law and order.
Mr Acheampong said the security agencies would endeavour to improve upon their performance in Sunday’s presidential run-off.
He said the task force had put in place adequate strategic and operational plans after assessing its performance on December 7 to deal with any challenges.