The Interior Minister says government is engaging with some security experts to address cases of mob injustice across the country.
Ambrose Dery said the hankering of Ghanaians for mob attacks is an innate tendency that will require a thorough study to have it solved.
He told Raymond Acquah on UPfront on JOYNEWS channel on MultiTV Thursday, the government is holding an open dialogue with the relevant authorities on the matter.
“If you take mob action it has existed in Ghana right from my childhood…it is in our psyche so we are engaging prominent security activists to see what we can do about the situation,” he said.
There is an upsurge of instant injustice meted out to persons alleged to be criminals. The perpetrators take the law into their own hands and enact violent justice on alleged criminals.
This type of justice, while not an everyday occurrence, is common in both the rural and urban areas of Ghana.
Hundreds of Ghanaians have lost their lives through this practice.
A most recent one that attracted the attention of Ghanaians was the lynching of a senior military officer, Major Maxwell Adam Mahama, who was on national assignment in the Central Region.
The officer was clobbered and stoned on May 29 by residents of Denkyira-Obuasi in the Region while on his routine jogging, the police have said.
He was allegedly mistaken for an armed robber when he was spotted with a gun and was lynched for two grueling hours upon a tip-off by a snail seller.
A day before Major Mahama’s murder, three Ghanaians were lynched in a similar fashion at Kasoa also in the Central Region by residents for allegedly stealing two mobile phones.
Experts have said mob justice is festering because of a “severe” lack of faith in police forces as well as in the judicial system.
The repetition of these attacks has created a situation where there is a culture of fear in the country. Many Ghanaians are afraid for their safety.
Although the Interior Minister said the social climate in the country is responsible for mob injustice, he said the government is working to safeguard the citizens.
“The feeling of fear exist [but] our goal is to make Ghanaians feel safe,” Mr Dery said.
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