Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo being guided by Prof. Emmanuel Asante to sign the vigilante code
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has finally appended its signature to the document on the final roadmap and code of conduct for the eradication of political party vigilantism.
Negotiations led by the National Peace Council (NPC) were held earlier towards getting parties to agree to end political vigilantism in the country.
The NDC on February 4, 2020, however, refused to sign the document after its main political opponent, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had signed, claiming that the timing was premature for such a binding document which went through a six-month drafting period.
At a short signing ceremony held at the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel in Accra yesterday, the NDC led by its National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, signed the agreement.
He was supported by Johnson Asiedu Nketia, General Secretary of the party, Abraham Amaliba, a council member, Alex Perceval Segbefia, and two other members of the party.
In a statement after signing the agreement, Mr. Ofosu-Ampofo said it was the wish of the NDC that Ghana continued to live in peace and tranquility but turned around to say “the NDC is signing this code of conduct and agreement with a lot of reservations.”
He revealed that they had communicated their reservations in a letter to the Peace Council on May 27, 2020.
He reiterated that out of the 22 key deliverables expected to be enforced by the political parties, only four can be enforced under the code of conduct that they have signed.
“From the tone of the letter, we are entitled to draw legitimate inferences that the outstanding institutions whose signatures we are waiting before presenting the documents to us, once again we have realized that the government of Ghana, which is a major implementing agency in the process of our negotiation, we did not see the active participation of the government agency…(sic).”
He added, “We find this very worrying because we believe that the government has a major role to play to secure the peace of this country.”
Besides, he mentioned that no single person had been found culpable by the Emile Short Commission of enquiry for some violence, including physical attacks on sitting MPs, but nobody has been reprimanded.
He then alleged the recruitment of some vigilantes into the national security agencies without following the various procedures and said some statements by some NPP members are issues the NDC is worried about.
Johnson Asiedu Nketia remarked that even as they sign the agreement, one of the stakeholders, being the Electoral Commission, was infringing upon a previously signed agreement in 2015 concerning the roadmap for Ghana’s electoral reforms following the Supreme Court case in 2013.
The Chairperson of the National Peace Council, Professor Emmanuel Asante, said the NDC on May 27, 2020 wrote to inform the council of their readiness to sign the roadmap of the code of conduct.
“Events in our recent political history brought our attention to the disturbing phenomenon of politically motivated vigilantism which has unfortunately left sad memories and scars in the minds of some Ghanaian families and citizens,” he said.
He added that it was therefore welcoming news when the NPP and NDC reached a consensus to address the issues of violent vigilante activities in Ghana.
Present at the signing ceremony were Nana Dr. Susubribi Krobea Asante, representing the National House of Chiefs; Rev. Dr. Adu Gyamfi of the Christian Council; Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, representing Ghana Charismatic Council, among others.
(lindatenyah@gmail.com)
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey