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Ghana police urged to use social media during polls for info gathering

Xinhua, August 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

Media practitioners and civil society groups Tuesday urged the Ghana Police Service to use social media for intelligence gathering to ensure a successful poll in December.

At a dialogue in Accra, the participants observed that the positive role of social media in the socio-economic lives of the people could not be underestimated.

Jerry Sam, Programs Director for Penplusbytes, organizers of the dialogue, observed that "most successful elections on the continent happened in areas where citizens were actively involved in the electioneering process".

He therefore called on the police service to set up a team to engage, monitor and investigate the activities of citizens on social media to track down people who would disrupt the country's democratic gains.

The participants also urged the police to partner the country's National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), political parties and candidates, as well as celebrities, to educate the people on the proper usage of social media.

The calls come following the police administration's hint that it was considering shutting down all social media services in the country on Election Day.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), John Kudalor, revealed that this will help prevent the abuse of the platform by politicians and Ghanaians at large.

But President John Dramani Mahama recently at the launch of the governing party's campaign in Cape Coast said government would not ban social media on polling day.

Ghana goes to the polls on Dec. 7 this year to elect a president and 275 members of parliament. Endit