The Upper West Regional Crime Officer of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent Reynolds Manteaw has encouraged community members to form watch committees to complement the efforts of the police in ensuring security in the region.
He indicated that though security forces in the country were putting the best strategies in place to protect the citizens, they would need the collaboration of all in order to make their mandate more feasible.
“Through vigilance, these watch committees can monitor and report activities of suspected persons in the community to the police for further action”, he said.
C/Supt Manteaw who made this known at a Regional Inter-party Dialogue Committee Meeting organised by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) at Wa on Monday, explained that with the knowledge and guidance of the police, the community members could put themselves into these groups to safeguard the security of their respective communities.
The meeting sought to create a platform for dialogue among the stakeholders on effective ways of identifying early warning signs of extremist violence through community surveillance and also develop measures to counter radicalisation of the youth.
The Crime Officer used the opportunity to encourage community members to decline invitation to join groups that sought to foment trouble in society and said they should rather report such suspicious groups to the police for immediate action.
The Deputy Regional Director of the NCCE, Mr John Yibile also urged the public, particularly the youth to stay away from individuals or political activists who sought to recruit them into vigilante groups and entice them to cause mayhem.
He stated that violent extremism was becoming a threat to peaceful coexistence and social cohesion and said there was the need to ensure that citizens were sensitised to the nature and prevention of activities of such groups in the region.
The meeting formed part of a project dubbed ‘Preventing Electoral Violence and Providing Security to the Border Regions of Ghana (NORPRESEC)’ funded by the European Union.
Representatives of various political parties, traditional authorities, staff of the Electoral Commission, people living with disabilities, among others attended the forum.

From Rafia Abdul Razak, Wa