Dr. Emmanuel Kwesi Aning
A SECURITY analyst, Dr. Emmanuel Kwesi Aning has indicated that there are about 26 election-related violent groups currently in Ghana.
According to him, prior to the 2016 elections, there 16 violent groups.
But he told the Justice Emile Short Commission probing the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election shooting on Monday, March 4, 2019 that electoral violence has become almost normal in Ghana.
He mentioned some of the groups as Burma Camp, Delta Force, Ashanti Vigilante Group, the Hawks, Pentagon, Rasta Boys, Kandahar Boys, Azorkor Boys, Aljazeera.
The names of the groups, he said, signified war, the ability to use force, invincibility and flamboyance, among others.
He lamented that electoral violence has become the most stable currency in the country.
Dr. Aning said politicians were becoming more emboldened daily about owning vigilantes, saying “there is a certain willingness and pride that I will form this group.”
He said “these groups have become economic groups. They have been infiltrated by criminals.”
According to him, the vigilantism menace has gotten root in the country and created economic incentives.
Eradicating the menace will take a lot of time and will require “honest brokers” like the United Nations and the African Unions because the various political parties did not seem to trust each other.
Ending the menace, he said, may take some time because politicians come out publicly to say one thing and say another behind close doors.
BY Melvin Tarlue