The Member of Parliament for Asawase, Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka, has welcomed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s directive to the two main political parties, the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), to disband all party-affiliated militia groups.
The Minority Chief Whip said if the political parties meet on this issue, the real cause of the creation of the groups will be established for a solution to be proposed.
Mr Muntaka told Accra100.5FM’s Parliamentary correspondent, Richard Appiah Sarpong in an interview that identification of the root cause of vigilantism will be a major step in dealing with the problem.
He said: “It’ll be good for the political parties to meet and dialogue on this matter. If we meet then we’ll be able to identify the cause of the vigilantism, then we can all adopt a solution to it.
“If probably it is due to mistrust, as in, the political parties do not trust the police, then we find ways of building that trust.
“If the president is compelled to introduce legislation on this, it will turn into a political football in parliament and at the end of the day, a partisan approach will be adopted by Members of the House. Even if there is a law against vigilantism, that law may not be implemented because there are several good laws in Ghana that we don’t obey. I think we should all meet as political parties and dialogue.”
Delivering his third state of the nation address in parliament on Thursday, 21 February 2019, Nana Akufo-Addo said: “I want to make a sincere passionate appeal to the leaders of the two main political parties in our country – NPP and NDC – to come together as soon as possible, preferably next week, to agree on appropriate measures to bring an end to this worrying and unacceptable phenomenon of vigilantism in our body politic.
“Mr Speaker, I’ve asked the leadership of the NPP to extend an invitation to the leadership of the NDC for such a meeting. The security services of the country will be on standby to assist such a meeting. If voluntary disbandment by the parties is not feasible, then I’ll initiate legislation in the matter.”
Source:Ghana/AccraFM.com
