A TOTAL of 1,025 National Capital District (NCD) police personnel will provide security during the poling period of the Port Moresby North West by-election polls.
The poling will start on Wednesday June 2, 2021.
NCD Metro Superintendent Gideon Ikumu said police are ready to deliver to the people of North West electorate a safer and free election. All police from other electorates are color coded to work within their zones and only the Mobile Squad will overlap the zones to provide support.
“This is to show that we are ready to run the North West by-election. We will deliver it and we will be prepared for the national election to come. Election is not a new thing and some of the police officers standing in parade here have experiences in running elections.
“It is not our duty to run elections, however it is the duty of the police to support the Electoral Commission to provide and create safe environment where people can exercise their democratic right to choose their leader that will represent them in Parliament,” Ikumu said.
He added that in the last three months there have been a lot of positive changes in the NCD policing and he encouraged his men to forget about all the negativity against them on mainstream media and social media and do what is best for the people.
Moreover, NCD/acting Central Province Command, Anthony Wagambie Jnr said the by-election is a special event for the people of North West and the police are ready to provide security.
“We are blue angels we support Electoral Commission run the election. We are here to provide security to ensure it is a safe secure and transparent election. This is our job and all of us have an important role to play in our conduct,” Wagambie said.
Meanwhile, Ikumu also acknowledged the NCD for assisting the police with logistics for the operation.
He said the police will be conducting road blocks around the city to prevent people from other electorate to flock into North West and allow only for the people who have their names on the North West electoral roll to vote.