Dissolve Vigilante Groups and their Reminants- Pentecost University Professor To Politicians

Prof. Opoku Onyinah, a lecturer at Pentecost University and also a member of the Governing Board of the Ghana National Peace Council has called on political parties to dissolve all groups associated with that are vigilante in nature.

He made the call at a workshop organized in Amansaman, Accra by the National Peace Council.

According to Prof. Onyinah, political actors must stick to the competition of ideas that shape national development.

For instance, he said, ‘political parties must always express their opinions on national issues with decorum, provide practical solutions for the many challenges that confront the country, and respect one another in their deeds and utterances to preserve Ghana’s peace’.

He advised that ‘as of December 7 beckons, political parties should eradicate vigilante groups and their remnants from the electioneering process’

Roadmap

The roadmap to eradicating political vigilantism sets out the norms and principles to guide the elimination of politically related violence or vigilantism.

The document is a comprehensive outline of the goals and overall objectives of all relevant stakeholders, especially the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), in the elimination of political vigilantism.

It also reflects the strategic thinking of stakeholders concerning how to achieve the goals.

For instance, at the outset of Phase One of the roadmap, “the parties shall reject all forms of violence as a mode of political expression”.

• In that regard, the leaders of the NDC and the NPP are expected to take the necessary steps to ensure that their members refrain from vigilante activities.

The parties are also expected to cooperate with the law enforcement agencies, especially by way of refraining from protecting their members who violate the laws governing vigilantism.

They are also expected to affirm their commitment to the code of conduct on political vigilantism and sign the code during a public function organised by the NPC, with the media in attendance, and continuously sensitise their members to and educate them on the dangers of vigilantism.

Credit: Daily Graphic