CHIEF JUSTICE URGES POLICEWOMEN TO ENHANCE IMAGE OF POLICE SERVICE (PAGE 21, NOV 9)

The Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood, has called on policewomen to work hard towards enhancing the image of the Ghana Police Service and peace and stability of the country.
She said from 1952 when the very first 12 policewomen were recruited into the Gold Coast Police to date, there had been a lot of challenges facing the police service but the policewomen had been able to comport themselves and maintain professional standards.
In a speech read on her behalf at the launch of the 20th anniversary ceremony of the Police Ladies Association (POLAS) in Accra on Saturday, the Chief Justice said policewomen were initially recruited to take charge of social problems such as child delinquencies.
However, she said, policewomen were now performing the same task as their male counterparts, involving charge office duties, investigations and prosecutions, traffic guard and patrol duties among others.
The Chief Justice said policewomen had equally excelled in international peacekeeping operations in countries like Bosnia Herzegovina-Kosovo, Liberia and Sudan, which has lifted the flag of POLAS and mother Ghana high.
Solidarity messages were delivered by various women’s associations from the security services including the Ghana Immigration Service Ladies Association, Ghana Prisons Service Ladies Association and the Ghana Fire Service Ladies Association.
The messages advised the Ghana Police Service Ladies Association on the need to mentor young and the less fortunate ones in society.
For his part, the Inspector General of Police, Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, assured POLAS that the police administration would continue to create a level playing field and ensure that equal opportunities existed for both male and female police officers in the service in terms of promotions, command appointments and peacekeeping deployments.
He said policewomen would continue to hold important positions of trust within the service on the account of their competencies and capabilities.
The President of POLAS, Mrs Joana Osei-Poku, charged all policewomen to exhibit exemplary conduct to raise the level of discipline in the service, and thanked all POLAS members for their dedication and commitment which had brought the association thus far.
Earlier, the policewomen went on a route march through the principal streets of Accra to mark the celebration.