The paramount chief of Essikado Traditional Area, Nana Kwabina Nketsiah V, has stressed the need for the Ghana Police Service to be made autonomous to enable it to operate more professionally and devoid of political interference. He said if politicians continued to appoint the leadership of the Police, the institution would be turned into a unit of political parties, with personnel of the service working for the parties of their choice to come into power to enable them to get positions and promotions. Nana Nketsiah was speaking at this year’s West Africa Security Service Association (WASSA) get-together held for personnel of the Western Regional Police Command. He said the current situation where every political party that came to power had to look for Policemen whom it thought it could work with, created a lot of dissatisfaction within the service. That, he said, also created apprehension, acrimony and apathy towards work, nothing that the situation could be avoided if the service were independent. Nana Nketsiah, who is also a senior lecturer at University of Cape Coast, said the issue should be thoroughly looked at by the policy makers and Ghanaians to ensure that the right thing is done. He said if the trend continued the larger interest of Ghanaians would be compromised. “With current system, a senior and most experienced Police Officer could be pushed aside and a junior elevated ahead of him in the name of political appointment,” he said, adding that this did not augur well for the country. He commended the Western Regional Police for their apt decisions and collaborating with their sister institutions to maintain peace in the region. The Western Regional Police Commander, Mr. Moses R. Ninson, enumerated the various collaborative efforts the command has undertake with sister security agencies for maintenance of peace and protection in the region. He commended officers and men for their dedication to duty and country and asked them to give of their best. Source: Daily Graphic