The three-member presidential commission of inquiry which investigated violence during a by-election at Ayawaso in the capital Accra has recommended the dissolution of the SWAT team at the National Security Council Secretariat.
Personnel of the SWAT team allegedly terrorized civilians during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election to elect a parliamentarian resulting in the shooting of six persons with several injured.
According to the Commission, members of the team should be re-assigned to their respective units after disbanding the SWAT.
“The Commission recommends that the SWAT team of the National Security Council Secretariat should be disbanded and operatives be reassigned as appropriate,” the report quoted by Accra-based Starr FM said.
It added: “The Commission further recommends that support for special operations should be sought from the specialised units of the police directly as and when necessary.”
Also, the Commission recommends “intelligence sharing between relevant agencies where an operation would entail or necessitate inter-agency cooperation” such as by-elections among others.
It further added that the police must be well resourced “so that they can maintain active communication during the entirety of operations. Providing equipment to only the leaders of an operation who cannot be everywhere at once leaves the flank unprotected and this would not inspire confidence in any of them.”
The three-member Commission was tasked to probe the events of the violence which occurred during the Ayawaso-West Wuogon by-election. It started its public hearings at the Christiansborg Castle, Osu, Accra on February 14 and submitted its report on March 14.
Other members of the commission were Mrs Henrietta Mensah Bonsu, legal luminary and jurist, and Mr Patrick K. Acheampong, former Inspector General of Police. Mr Ernest Kofi Abotsi, former Dean of the Faculty of Law, GIMPA and a private legal practitioner, served as Secretary to the Commission.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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