President Akufo-Addo who has already tasked the two leading political parties – NPP and NDC – to meet and find a solution to the problem told Ghanaians resident in Malta that the situation will not be left unaddressed.
He said he is bent on ensuring that party militias in Ghana are disbanded.
“These are worrying matters but matters that I am determined we should bring under control. Come what may, we will rid our country of some of these phenomena. We don’t need it in the new Ghana that we are trying to build.
“That people use force to determine the politics and the decision making of our nation. We don’t need it,” he stressed.
The NPP and NDC have now agreed to allow the National Peace Council mediate the much-anticipated dialogue after weeks of exchange of letters.
This is after President Akufo-Addo expressed surprise at the NDC’s request for the discussions to include all political parties, civil society organizations, representatives of the media, representatives of the military, police and other security agencies, as well as any other relevant stakeholders.
In a reply to the NDC’s Chairman Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, the president said he was dismayed that the two parties who have dominated and continue to dominate the country’s politics cannot meet to dialogue on matters of our nation’s governance and political culture, without the intervention of outsiders, including foreign entities, no matter how well-meaning.
President Akufo-Addo said he had hoped that the proposed meeting would be without preconditions on either side but insisted that the meeting takes place as soon as possible.
Regardless of this, it appears the NPP is willing to have a mediator as suggested by the NDC. The NDC has also asked the National Peace Council to choose a date and venue for the dialogue.
Members of the NDC believe the dialogue should not be reduced to the usual NDC-NPP process.
And while the National Peace Council is preparing to do just that, President Akufo-Addo during his two-day visit to Malta has assured the Ghanaian community there that he will not rest until a solution is found to the party militia problem.
Members of these party militia groups – Azoka Boys, Hawks, Delta Forces and Invincible Forces – among others are known to have caused a lot of havoc in the country.
From seizing public property to the removal of appointed officials from office and most recently the shooting and killing of a man at the NDC’s Kumasi office, these pro-party militia groups have on many occasions taken the law into their own hands.
President Akufo-Addo says these will happen no longer.
“We have to have a country whereby decisions are taken on the basis of the force of argument and the quality of presentations that are made by the various political actors in the state.
“I believe that if we all agree that this is the way forward, these unpleasant phenomena that we have been witnessing in our country in recent times will also be brought under control,” President Akufo-Addo added. Read Full Story
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