The Interior Minister, Mark Woyongo has indicated that his outfit will soon legalise the activities of vigilante groups, Azorka boys and Bolga Bulldogs.
“From now onwards we are going to ensure that those who operate have value or credible documents to operate as security agencies.These security companies will have to be licensed,” the Minister suggested.
[contextly_sidebar id=”G6hfceMg3wvL18TdsUWXB6TlSyXvVcvy”]These groups have been accused of perpetrating violent crimes during the just ended Talensi by-election in the Upper East Region.
Eventhough former President Jerry John Rawlings has called for some of the members of these groups to be arrested and prosecuted, the Interior Minister believes their activities should rather be regulated.
“There are some of them who are not licensed and they are operating.They are operating illegally.The law is that if you want to operate a security company in Ghana you must have a license.You must have a license to operate a security company and some of them do not have the license but they are operating,” he stated.
Azorka boys, Bolga Bulldogs are security companies
Asked whether Azorka boys and Bolga Bull dogs belonged to security companies, the Minister responded in the affirmative, saying “of course they belong to security companies. For sometime now, they have been operating as security companies.”
Azorka boys only protected themselves
Meanwhile the Minister has defended the attack staged by both groups, describing their actions as a pure case of “violence begets violence.”
“Violence begets violence. Azoka boys will not act violent if they were not provoked.The other side also brought in some people…the Invincible Forces and then the Bolga Boys, so violence begets violence. “What I mean is that if you are a peace lover and someone comes to attack you, definitely you have to protect yourself”, Mark Woyongo remarked on Kumasi based Ultimate Radio.
Click on audio to listen to the Minister
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah