From left, CODEO National Coordinator, Albert Kofi Arhin, John Larvie and Togbe Adome Drayi II, Advisory Board Members and Dr Kojo Asante, CODEO Secretariat
Government and state agencies have been asked to disband vigilante groups affiliated to the various political parties.
According to the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), government and Ghana Police Service must disband all vigilante groups in Ghana to ensure security.
The call was made in a statement issued by CODEO at a press briefing in Ho recently which was addressed by John Larvie and Togbe Adome Drayi II, CODEO Advisory Board members.
The statement by CODEO was signed by the National Coordinator, Albert Kofi Arhin.
It was supported by stakeholders at a roundtable on party vigilantism in the Volta Region in Ho Last Tuesday.
The event was attended by members of the parties, Civil Society Organization (CSO), Peace Council, Police, Electoral Commission (EC) and other stakeholders.
After the discussions, the stakeholders said that vigilante groups should be disbanded as a matter of urgency and that a law should be passed to criminalise their activities.
The phenomenon has become worrying in recent times since they now attack their opponents, including their paymasters.
CODEO believes that these developments, particularly the post-election incidents, call for drastic measures to save the situation.
With the support of USAID, CODEO initiated a post-election national stakeholder workshop followed by a communiqué, public engagement of regional stakeholders.
The stakeholders said that countries that have poorly handled the issue of vigilante groups paid dearly for it after the groups transformed into militant groups and terrorists.
To this end, the stakeholders at the event pleaded with government and Ghanaians at large to secure the mandate of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and other top hierarchy of the police and other security agencies to stop political interference.
More so, security personnel and officers of the Electoral Commission were encouraged to be professional and non-partisan in the discharge of their duties.
They called on government to vigorously find ways of creating jobs for the teeming youth to make them productive.
“The negative phenomenon of “winner takes all” must also be eschewed to prevent young people from finding respite in vigilante groups, and the media must show commitment to campaign against political vigilante groups as they are doing against galamsey, they stated.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (freduoo@gmail.com)