The Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram Constituency, Samuel Nartey George has denied that his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) owns a vigilante group.
There is growing public concern over political vigilantism with some high profile incidents from groups associated with both the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition NDC.
Although stakeholders have called for concerted efforts from the two main political parties to disband them, the MP insists the official records of the NDC do not have any vigilante group hence.
“What I know for a fact and can state without equivocation is that the party I belong to –the National Democratic Congress does not have any vigilante group. The two groups I told you I was familiar with; Azoka boys and Hawks are groups that hold allegiance to individuals. I will not refer to them as a vigilante groups group but community based organizations. So, let me state for the record that the NDC has no vigilante group.”
“These are groups that have been put up by individuals, but they are not recognized or affiliated to the NDC. The NDC is a body corporate in law that has a constitution with procedures of affiliations for groups that are not part of the NDC,” he stressed.
Disband your vigilante groups – IGP to political parties
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), David Asante-Apeatu has urged political parties to disband their vigilante groups said to be causing mayhem in the country.
Mr. Apeatu explained that just a security approach to vigilantism might not be adequate.
“The truth is that if we prescribe a security solution to a politically motivated problem, you may only be reducing the pain but not curing the disease.”
Critics of the New Patriotic Party have questioned the party’s commitment in dealing with vigilante groups after incidents ranging from raids of police stations, courts and regional security councils occurred under their government.
There have been over 20 high profile incidents of political action with no significant arrests or prosecutions.
In November 2017, the government set up a task-force to investigate some of the vigilante disturbances after public uproar.
Vigilantism in Ghana
The phenomenon of vigilantism has become a topical issue in the country following a surge in acts of physical attacks and assaults carried out by members of vigilante groups aligned to Ghana’s major political parties, NDC and NPP.
Some of these attacks have resulted in death and injuries on victims including innocent citizens.
Recently, the presence of some masked and armed men at a polling station during the Ayawaso Wuogon by-election sparked conversations on the matter.
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By: Nii Larte Lartey | citinewsroom.com |Ghana | [email protected]
The post NDC doesn’t have vigilante groups – Sam George appeared first on Citi Newsroom.
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