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More public support for police, the
president urges
Accra, July 26, Ghanadot -
The president, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday called
for more public support for the security agencies to enable
them to clamp down on the rising crime rate in the country.
"We have been suffering violent crimes at a rate we are not
used to," he said, citing recent killings of some
individuals, handbag and mobile phone snatching by young men
on motorbikes and narcotic drugs trafficking.
He said while the Government was making every effort to
bring law and order under firm control, but the people must
also by being more alert, observant and to report criminal
activities without hesitation, all suspicious characters to
the security agencies.
President Kufuor said this at the third quarterly meeting
with members of the Council of State at the Castle, Osu in
his opening remarks.
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He said the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the
Ghana Police Service was being empowered and encouraged to
stop the criminals, while the government at the same time
was allying itself with power partners abroad to turn the
tide on the drug menace.
President Kufuor used the occasion to convey to the nation,
his personal thanks for the harmony and the way all
Ghanaians contributed to make the Accra Summit of the
African Union a landmark success.
The mood of the nation was so harmonious and the leaders who
attended the meeting were amazed that what they saw could
happen in Africa. "All Ghanaians should be proud of this,"
he said.
The Accra Summit, the President noted, was one of the best
attended in the history of the Union as almost all the Heads
of State, who rarely made it to such meetings, were present
and they all left happy and fulfilled.
President Kufuor described the year so far as "very
eventful" and urged the people to have hope and confidence
in the country's future.
He said Ghana had struck oil at a time when it was facing
dire energy crisis and this should send out a message to the
people that self-doubt and cynicism should give way to
optimism.
President Kufuor said the Government would use cautious
optimism to guide its steps as the nation awaited the final
proof that it had oil.
Touching on the current energy situation, President Kufuor
informed the Council that they had done all that they needed
to do in the short term, given the country's power
transmission capacity.
He said the emergency power plants they were putting in
place, according to expert advice from the Volta River
Authority (VRA), were adequate. Thermal plants were also
being installed.
Reports coming in also speak of an increase in the water
level at the Akosombo Hydro-electric Dam, an announcement
that drew applause from the Council members.
"The future for the energy sector is good. From what we have
been doing, within the next five years, the nation would be
generating about 5,000 megawatts of electricity."
Professor Daniel Adzei-Bekoe, Chairman of the Council, said
with the discovery of oil, there was the need to carefully
work out a national energy strategy.
This should take into account all sources of energy, the
security of supply, relative costs, safety and environment
as well as social implications.
He noted that when the nation resolved its energy problems
once and for all the Council was in no doubt that the
combination of the ALCAN's bauxite refinery and the VALCO
smelter should re-launch Ghana on the path of an integrated
aluminium industry, such as was anticipated even before
independence.
GNA
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