Josephine Nkrumah (middle) addressing the media
The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has condemned the violent and fatal incident that was allegedly orchestrated by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) affiliated vigilante group, the Hawks.
The violent incident which led to the death of another rival vigilante member called Wasihu Idrisu occurred on Monday at Amakom, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, during an NDC meeting which was attended by some national executives.
The Chairperson of NCCE, Josephine Nkrumah, at a press briefing in Accra on Tuesday noted that recent developments as far as party vigilantism was concerned showed that such groups were no longer under the control of their political parties.
“We take this opportunity to commiserate with the bereaved family of the late Wasihu Idrisu and urges them to exercise restrain whiles the police carry out their investigation,” she added.
She emboldened stakeholders including “right-thinking politicians” to speak up and take necessary actions against political parties and leaders who associate themselves with such vigilante groups.
“We should be relentless in our condemnation of this canker that threatens the integrity of our democracy and peace as a country. Posterity will judge us if we fail to arrest the scourge of political violence that has received international attention,” she said.
Ms Nkrumah was optimistic that the recommendations by the Emile Short Commission of Inquiry into the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election would go a long way to empower security agencies to operate optimally.
In the meantime, she commended the Ghana Police Service for their swift response in apprehending identified thugs who carried out the act.
She urged politicians to leave issues of security to the security services and asked the police to without fear or favour pursue the criminal matter with the aim of bringing perpetuators of the act to book.
By Issah Mohammed