Freddie Blay and Samuel Ofosu Ampofo
When they met for their parley on stemming vigilantism in our body politic there was no doubt in the commitment of party leaders to achieve that goal.
It was relieving that after brief but worrying polemics often in the media over the modalities for the bilateral discussions on the subject, the two parties have started to talk to each other on the same table.
A little over a month ago, this feat was unthinkable and skeptics wrote off any possibility of them sitting together, let alone discuss how to disband vigilantes.
The responses of the leadership of the two main parties sum up their disdain for vigilantism and their love to have the dangerous groups disbanded. While we do not doubt the integrity of the sources of the assurances of support, the anti-vigilante moves we nonetheless ask that practical support for the disbandment of the militant groups be carried out and without delay.
The Chairman of the National Peace Council said it all about the importance of protecting the peace and stability of the country following the toils of our forebears in attaining independence. It would be shameful if, in spite of our education and enlightenment, we allow ourselves to succumb to our myopic interests to destroy the country through the sponsorship of criminal gangs to undertake criminalities in the name of political causes.
When two disagreeing parties or even individuals sit down together to seek solutions to common challenges, there is always light at the end of what previously looked like a dark tunnel.
Even on the first day of the sitting, a feeling of hope that something tangible is going to dawn upon us is not in doubt.
The feature of apprehension when elections are nearing should be eliminated from our body politic because the source of this feeling originating from the menace posed by vigilantes can be eliminated when both parties agree to end it.
Now that they have really agreed to work towards that goal an unprecedented bipartisan decision, which adds a feather to our cap as a nation, has been made. We are excited about the prospects of future polls in the country without the engagement of thugs to go and visit mayhem at polling stations. The picture painted at the recent Ayawaso West Wuogon and many others before should be confined to the dark portions of our history books never again to be played out.
The NDC Chairman pointed at the importance of the commitment of parties to give backing to the vigilante legislation without which nothing would be achieved. We could not agree more with him. Freddie Blay, who spoke about the negative consequences of not addressing the consequences of vigilantism, spoke from experience having witnessed at first hand the effects of vigilantism, especially during by-elections.