Political Vigilante Groups: A Peril To National Peace And Security In Ghana

Of late, political parties are bent on winning power at all cost without recourse to what their entrenched desire for power can do to the lives of ordinary Ghanaians. Indeed, I wonder what the seekers of leadership are up to so much so that every time there is tension in the country. These tensions are without doubt caused by political vigilante groups known as Invisible Forces and Foot Soldiers.

I recalled a few weeks ago when a Senior Journalist, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. stated emphatically that the vigilante groups are dangerous threat to national security and that the state security agencies should take action to stop such informal groupings. Just a few days ago, the UN Head for West Africa Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambers raised a similar warning that this vigilante groups are the breeding grounds for terrorist attacks citing the Boko Haram groups in Nigeria as an example.

I am not security analyst, but with my layman’s assessment of events particularly, what is happening in the country right not, Ghana stands a great risk of tarnishing its image as a relatively peaceful country in the African sub-region. Our democratic credentials seem fragile and the country is sitting at a time-bomb. I do not wish that a single blood should be shed in this beloved country, just because of the selfish desire of a political agent to win political power.

Words of Martin Luther King Jnr. continue to live and must be taken seriously. He said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. Hence, the injustice within the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is a cause for worry. Already, in just a space of one year, two patriotic citizens of this country and members of the NPP were murdered in cool blood, several verbal and physical attacks on individuals and physical properties such as the NPP Head Quarters. We are already aware of the operations of NPP’s Invisible Forces and the NDC’s Foot Soldiers and the danger these groups pose to Ghana’s democracy. All evil happening within the NPP and NDC are a serious concern for the country and all concern citizens must make the noise against these unwarranted disturbances.

Even of more concern was the battle of accusations between the NPP and NDC regarding who causes the raid in NPP Head Quarters? Indeed, if the so-called attackers of the NPP Head Quarters were in genuine National Security Uniforms as claimed by the NPP, then Ghana is in trouble especially as the country draws nearer to election 2016. But, why even the accusation of government using state security to destroy NPP’s property? This accusation was unnecessary and could only exacerbate the problem rather than dealing with it. Also, if state security does not exhibit professionalism, they may fail to provide adequate security for the NPP in terms of the party’s activities and that would be more chaos. What I think the NPP should have done was to ask government to do proper investigation into the incident so that appropriate action can be taken against the perpetrators. The accusation would lower government’s confidence to do such job, since it has to defend itself against the verbal attack.

Frankly speaking, NPP is in turmoil and need to take strategic measures to stop its internal wrangling. We have a government which is battling with serious energy, economic and corruption crisis in which the NPP would have been very focus and take advantage of the prevailing situation by providing alternative and convincing policies for Ghanaians in 2016, they are rather battling internal crisis. The question that many discerning Ghanaians would ask is, if you cannot pick out a dirt in your own shirt, how can you pick out a dirt in another, because charity begins at home?. So the NPP must tolerate one another, compromise on certain instances, and bring all members together so that no one feel cheated, neglected or hated.

For me as a Ghanaian, I will wish that the NPP and NDC dissolve their vigilante groups: Invisible Forces and Foot Soldiers respectively and allow the state security to take control and protect every life and property. We must all rise up as Ghanaians and condemn these political vigilante group formations and existence because; rascal and gullible people are influence under such groups to cause mayhem like we are seeing within the NPP. If the political parties are not willing and ready to dissolve such groups, the state security agencies must use the law to denigrate such groups so that Ghana do not because a target for terrorists and armed raiders.

We must all join efforts together to ensure a lasting peace and democracy in Ghana since our lives are directly and indirectly entwine and as the famous Chinese scholar Confucius said, “consideration for others is the basis of a good life, a good society”. The politicians and all seekers of power should be aware that power without the support of the powerless people is tantamount to failure, and so as Martin Luther King indicated, “an individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

As for me, I fully agreed with Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah when he said, “Africa is a paradox which illustrates and highlights neo-colonialism. Her earth is rich, yet the products that come from above and below the soil continue to enrich, not Africans predominantly, but groups and individuals who operate to Africa’s impoverishment” and that “...disputes continued to retard development and progress, resulting in increased poverty among the people.”

Therefore, it is important to make loud noise and let us not as Ghanaians allow political parties and their vigilante groups to operate freely and impoverish Ghana, otherwise Martin Luther King Jnr. has warned us that “our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” and “in the end, we will remember not the words our enemies, but the silence of our friends”. As Ghanaians “we must live together as brothers or perish together as fools”. May God protect our home land Ghana.

Writer’s email/contact:
[email protected] / 0240393109
The writer is a Community Development Practitioner and Advocate

27/11/2015