NCCE Chairperson urges communities to see police as partners in development

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has intensified its engagement with stakeholders to help contain and curtail violent extremism in the face of terrorist attacks in neighbouring countries.Miss Kathleen Addy, Chairperson of NCCE, at a dialogue session aimed at building trust and cooperation between the Police and community members at the forecourt of Tamale Dakpema Palace, urged the gathering to consider personnel of the Ghana Police Service as partners in development and close associates.The event, dubbed Police-community dialogue session, was organised by the NCCE as part of its Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism project, which is funded by the European Union.It was attended by traditional leaders, security services, representatives of political parties amongst other groups in the area.Ms Addy said: 'The Police must be seen as part of the community and not people we should be afraid of. The Police see citizens as the people they are supposed to protect, the reason they have taken up their jobs so that together we can build a relationship of trust that will help us to contain violent extremism.'She said citizens of other countries were seeking shelter in Ghana because of instability in their countries, adding Ghanaians had no place to relocate should there be violence.'Nothing should be done to disturb the current peace we are experiencing,' Ms Addy emphasised.She appealed to the electorate to remain patriotic to the growth of the country and not tolerate vote buying, religious intolerance, hate speech and fake news to influence them in the December elections.Superintendent of Police, Mr. Cosmas Awe, Tamale District Police Commander, urged the gathering to look out for suspicious individuals in their vicinity and report them to the appropriate agencies for prompt action.He said: 'Try to identify the type of people within your community. Every community member must be able to know their people, day and night. If there's any stranger in the community, you must identify hi m and know that there's a stranger.'He called on traditional rulers, the clergy and opinion leaders to preach peace to the citizenry.The Tamale Dakpema, a Chief in Tamale, through his Public Relations Officer, Mr. Basharu Dabale, commended the NCCE for organising the event and advised all residents to live peacefully together for the development of the area.He said, 'In our efforts to build lasting peace, we must focus on several key areas such as education and training, and feedback mechanism. I urge everyone here and home to view our security services not as distant enforcers but as vital partners in the quest for a peaceful and harmonious community.'Source: Ghana News Agency