Kufuor calls for more public support for police

Accra, July 26, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday called for more public support for the security agencies to clamp down on the disturbing upsurge of violent crimes 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, the people should do their bit by being more alert, observant and to report without hesitation, all suspicious characters to the security agencies. President Kufuor said this in opening remarks at the third quarterly meeting with members of the Council of State at the Castle, Osu.

He said the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service was being empowered and encouraged to break the back of those crimes.

At the same time, the Government was reinforcing itself through alliances with powerful partners to turn the tide in the drugs 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.