A former Northern Regional Minister, Prince Imoro Andani has endorsed calls for the disbandment of political party vigilante groups scattered across the country.
The Kofi Anan Peace Keeping Centre in its recent report revealed the existence of 16 political vigilante groups in the country with a chunk located in the Northern Region.
This development, according to Prince Imoro Andani is not healthy for the nation’s democracy.
[contextly_sidebar id=”V6WHjtWfxkuuoT6GRsOsdAVYUbkpcU3d”]The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Kandahar Boys and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Aluta Boys are the most popular political vigilante groups operating in the Tamale Metropolis.
Prince Imoro Andani in a Citi News interview charged the police administration to disband the political vigilante groups affiliated to the two main political parties, the NPP and the NDC.
According to him, disbanding such unauthorized vigilante groups could guarantee absolute peace and stability particularly in the Northern Region which has numerous security flashpoints.
“I have had the privilege of being Chairman of the Regional Council as a former regional Minister and knowing the environment and the manner in which our people react I think that there is the need for us to disband such vigilante groups.”
He also admonished political party leaders to be civil on their campaign platforms.
“Because of the vulnerability of the society politicians and political parties will often recruit the youth to form such vigilante groups. We don’t have jobs here and there are no industries and so the need to disband these groups for us to have peaceful elections is crucial.”
Prince Imoro Andani commended the Kofi Anan Peace Keeping Centre saying, “The information given by the Kofi Anan Peace Keeping Centre is credible information because the names and the groups that have been mentioned are really vigilante groups on the ground.”
He challenged government and political party office seekers to concentrate on creating enough jobs for the youth rather than encouraging the establishment of vigilante groups.
“Looking at the poverty levels, it is on the ascendancy and so there is the need for us to focus on our needs such as education and poverty alleviation.”
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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana