Speaking on Eyewitness News on Thursday, Dr. Aning said the suspension will serve as a deterrent to the various vigilante groups in the country as well high profile members of political parties who protect some of these violent groups.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Q7gkUNER7IErraqYvseneEWlfHo8jBEO”]“I think this is a useful step. When you have the first gentleman of the land saying I will not tolerate this and people challenge the authority of the president that is unacceptable because the President is no more the leader of a parochial political party, he is a representative of the Republic of Ghana in whom our hopes, dreams and aspirations are vested in. So when people challenge his authority that undermines the sanctity not only of the presidency but of the sovereignty of the republic of Ghana,” he added.

President Akufo-Addo on Thursday suspended the Upper West Regional Minister, Sulemana Alhassan for protecting a group of angry youth believed to be members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who besieged the Upper West Regional office of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) on Wednesday evening.

A statement from the Presidency said the Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Amidu Ishaq, will act in the stead of the suspended Minister pending the conclusion of an investigation into the incident, according to a statement from the Presidency.

The statement added that “President Akufo-Addo reiterates his commitment to the application of the laws of the land, which must occur without fear or favour, affection or ill-will and without recourse to the political or ethnic affiliations of any citizen of the land,” the statement added.

Dr. Aning on Eyewitness News further commended the President for the suspension.

“…The reputational damage that the behavior of the invisible forces and delta forces have done taking on iconic names that send signals to rest of the world that they are untouchable has damaged us so much. So this is really very good, it shows a President who has deep respect for the rule of law but even more importantly is willing to put the generality of Ghana’s interest beyond parochial party political issues,” he added.

Background 

Some youth from the Wa East district, numbering about 30, in two pickups and a minibus, stormed the NADMO office at the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council on Wednesday evening. They chased out the Regional NADMO Coordinator, and beat up his aide to pulp who was later hospitalized.

After the police got to the scene of the disturbances and effected the arrest of three persons, Alhassan Sulemana ordered the release of the suspects.

He reportedly told the police that “This is a party matter, I will have a meeting with them and get back to you”.

After that, the attackers walked home freely.

Following the incident, workers of NADMO declared a strike on Thursday, and demanded that until the suspects are arrested, they will not return to work.

They  slammed the Regional Minister, whose duty is to protect citizens as the Regional Chairman of the Security Council, for choosing to shield the attackers.

Five NPP youth arrested for attacking U/West NADMO boss

Meanwhile, the Upper West Regional Police Command has picked up five persons alleged to have masterminded the attack on the Upper West Regional office of the National Disaster Management Organization [NADMO].

The five, according to Citi News sources at the Command, were sent to the police station by the Upper West Regional Minister, Sulemana Alhassan, at about 1:00pm on Thursday, February 1, shortly before his suspension was announced.

Political vigilantism in Upper West

This incident marks the third major disturbance perpetrated by youth aligned to the NPP in Upper West Region in the last few months.

On January 22, some NPP youth in the Wa municipality vandalized the residence of the Municipal Chief Executive of the area, Issahaku Moomin Tahiru.

The rampaging youth also vandalized the family house of the MCE and two other houses belonging to his supporters.

In November 2017, NPP youth in Gwollu, the capital of the Sissala West District stormed the precinct of the Assembly and locked up the District Chief Executive, Mohammed Bakor in his office.

They had accused the DCE of engaging in “divide and rule” tactics, and failing to address their concerns.

After the Wa incident, seven NPP supporters were arrested and charged with rioting, including the Sissala West Constituency Chairman of the NPP.

Sulemana Alhassan defended similar attack on Sissala West DCE

The suspended Minister, who doubles as the Chairman of the Regional Security Council, REGSEC, in October 2017, downplayed a similar incident at the office of the Sissala West District Chief Executive, where rowdy New Patriotic Party youth boldly locked up the office of the public officer.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Alhassan, who did not emphatically condemn the action of the youth, described it as a “small hitch between some party youth and the District Chief Executive for Sisala West that led to the youth locking up the office.”

Defending his stance on the matter, the Minister said that “even though [the youth’s storming the office] was not legal, they didn’t cause any damage to any property. They didn’t cause any harm to anybody” he insisted.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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At about 5:00 pm on Wednesday, the youth from the Wa East district, numbering about 30, arrived in two pickups and a minibus, according to eyewitnesses.

[contextly_sidebar id=”bO5XuINRZ15HQ6Lj64Q2Rgp2o14LY76Q”]Mr. Seidu escaped unhurt, but his personal assistant, Osman Seidu was beaten to a pulp and rushed to the Upper West Regional Hospital.

Mr. Saidu also told Citi News an amount of GHc 5,000 was stolen from his office.

The police got to the scene of the disturbances quickly to quell the situation and arrested three persons.

But the Upper West Minister, Alhassan Suleiman, ordered the release of the three persons.

The youth were subsequently called to a meeting with the Regional Minister, the Regional Director of NADMO, and the NPP Regional Secretary for over 30 minutes in the Minister’s office.

Mr. Seidu commended the police for their swift response to the disturbances, saying “but for the police, the situation would have been different.”

The Director, however, expressed disappointment in the Upper West Regional minister for allegedly preventing the Police from arresting the thugs.

“The Police came and met the boys around my office but when they wanted to make the arrest, the Minister came down and prevented them.”

At the time of filing this report, the irate youth were still at the office of the Upper West Regional Minister, Alhassan Suleiman with heavy security presence.

Political vigilantism in Upper West

This incident marks the third major disturbance perpetrated by youth aligned to the NPP in Upper West Region in the last few months.

On January 22, some NPP youth in the Wa municipality vandalized the residence of the Municipal Chief Executive of the area, Issahaku Moomin Tahiru.

The rampaging youth also vandalized the family house of the MCE and two other houses belonging to his supporters.

In November 2017, NPP youth in Gwollu, the capital of the Sissala West District stormed the precinct of the Assembly and locked up the District Chief Executive, Mohammed Bakor in his office.

They had accused the DCE of engaging in “divide and rule” tactics, and failing to address their concerns.

After the Wa incident, seven NPP supporters were arrested and charged with rioting, including the Sissala West Constituency Chairman of the NPP.

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By: Latif Mahama/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Task-Force is led by a Deputy Minister for Energy, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam Anta, and some of its members include the Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Hassan Tampuli, a Presidential Staffer, Clara Napaga Tia Sulemana, and Managing Director of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Dr. Clifford Braimah.

The Task-Force has so far spent three-days in the Northern Region holding discussions with major stakeholders involving NPP regional executives.

The Task-Force among other major achievements, has succeeded in resolving the intra political stalemate between the embattled Karaga District Chief Executive, Alhassan Yabdow, the NPP constituency leadership, and scores of the youth there.

 The aggrieved parties in the end signed a communique dubbed, “Settlement of political dispute in the Karaga district.”

 The Karaga constituency NPP Council of Elders Chairman, Baba Abdulai, the constituency Chairman, Tahiru Zakaria and the District Chief Executive, Alhassan Yabdow were the signatories.

 They unreservedly apologized to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and the good people of Ghana for the untoward situation perpetuated by some disillusioned NPP youth in the area.

 They agreed to an amicable settlement of the political stalemate there, which earlier resulted into the locking up of the DCE’s office.

They resolved to peacefully co-exist and deepen their collaboration to develop the district with the anticipation to strengthen the NPP’s support base.

 They also vowed to make the NPP more attractive to its core members and floating voters, as a means of winning both the Presidential and Parliamentary elections in the Karaga constituency at the 2020 polls.

 They further admonished all party loyalists there to renew their commitment to the values of the party, by using the appropriate internal conflict resolution mechanisms to resolve their future grievances.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana 

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This, the Authority hopes, will put to an end to recent acts of vandalism by the youth who are demanding jobs from their party leadership.

Currently, there is a public outcry over the increasing spate of vigilantism by some irate youth of the NPP.

[contextly_sidebar id=”l4bUSGRwQ2VtmDfHGzK0DFcmZLVov59n”]Citi News has reported on over 2o cases of attacks by pro-NPP vigilante groups, under the Akufo-Addo government.

Some of these have been attacks on public officials and some state installations and offices across the country.

Addressing journalists on Tuesday, the Chief Executive Officer for the NYA, Emmanuel Asigri, said the move to find the rampaging youth jobs will solve the problem at hand.

“It is not an Akufo-Addo demographic. It is not an NPP demographic. It is a Ghanaian demographic requiring the impassioned contribution from all those who lead. The government’s plan to create jobs is a private sector plan. A private sector plan is an entrepreneurship plan. There is 100 million dollars with the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation plan for any ordinary young Ghanaian for this year. Entering into next year alone, we are targeting to have 70, 000 young people put on the various models of YEA. We have partnered with the District Assemblies with one of our models where we are going to train about 500 young people who will maintain street lights across the country.”

“It is on this note that we urge the young people causing disturbances and public tension at Youth Employment Agency offices, School Feeding facilities, NADMO and District Assembly offices to read the game instead of invading the pitch. Seize the moment instead of seizing office keys and unlock their potential instead of locking padlocks. Again, we at NYA want to use this opportunity to call on those who should help stop this menace, especially the Ghana Police Service led by IGP David Asante Apeatu. ”

The commitment of the Akufo-Addo government towards an end to vigilantism, has been called into question following heightened acts of violence undertaken by vigilante groups affiliated to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).

In most of the instances, arrests are not made, and in the few instances of arrests, the suspects are either released later or serve lenient punishments when they are tried in court.

Critics of the government, who have questioned the party’s commitment in dealing with vigilante groups acting lawlessly in their name, were emboldened last week when another group of rampaging NPP youth, invaded a police station and freed party communicators who were in police custody.

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By: Farida Shaibu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Oman FM journalist covering the election, Isaac Ofori, narrated to Citi News that he in particular, was slapped in the full glare of the District Commander, ASP Abrefi Yeboah, and other police officers in uniform.

[contextly_sidebar id=”xQSrJsrVZ9cXQJNk1ydiEmOwuwgLTIHC”]The Adeiso District Police have since said it has begun investigations into the circumstances that led to the incident, but no arrests have been made despite the seeming abundance of evidence.

NPP youth group beats Assembly Members at Adeiso

The Adeiso Police are situated just about 10 meters from the election venue that saw chaos erupt.

The angry youth, known as the Party Royals, besieged the Pentecost Church where the election was taking place, and sparked the chaos, after their preferred candidate, Eric Kwesi Mensah, did not get the required two-thirds of votes for the position of Presiding Member.

After the vote, which was tied at 19 apiece, the Electoral Commission announced a break ahead of an expected second round of voting.

“All of a sudden, some guys came to the room and took the ballot box away. It was a misunderstanding between the guys and the police,” Isaac Ofori recounted.

“As a journalist, I decided to take some shots, but before I could do that, one of the guys slapped me and I fell on the ground,” he added.

Police ignored judge’s pleas

Isaac Ofori, also noted that, the police even failed to act on the orders of a judge, who was at the scene.

“The police were there, but they couldn’t make any arrests. Even the judge who is supposed to come and do the confirmation of the Presiding member was calling for their arrest but nothing happened.

The Police Commander was around at the time, along with his men, so Isaac Ofori said, he “didn’t see the reason why they did not arrest anybody.”

The incident has been juxtaposed with the attempt by some Togolese to stage an unlawful protest in Accra, but were swiftly clamped down by the police at Nima over the weekend, and they are getting ready to put them before court today [Monday].

This has again fueled concerns that such NPP youth are being protected because their government is in power.

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By: Neil Amartey Kanarku & Delali Adogla-Bessa /citifmonline.com/Ghana

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They were arrested after an official complaint filed by the under-fire Karaga District Chief Executive, Alhassan Yabdow, who was chased out of his office by some rampaging NPP youth.

[contextly_sidebar id=”hhiJnsXCHyafCwVZk0MhMpMl2uzrCUF0″]They were arrested four hours after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo reiterated the need for the law enforcement agencies to crack the whip on law breakers regardless of their political affiliation.

The constituency Chairman, Tahiru Yakubu, told Citi News that they are to report to the regional police command on Monday 30, October, 2017.

He commended the NPP regional leadership for their quick intervention in the case, and called for calm among party youth particularly his supporters who got infuriated by the DCE’s actions.

There is heavy security deployment in Karaga and its environs to forestall any renewed hostilities there.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Speaking at the 2017 Ngmayem Festival at Manya Krobo on Friday, President Akufo-Addo assured that the law will work without regard for partisan considerations.

“…I want to reiterate the commitment of our government to maintaining the peace and security in of our country. The application of the laws of the land will occur, in the words of the judicial oath, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will, and without recourse to the political, religious or ethnic affiliations of any citizen of the land.”

“When you fall foul of the law, you will be dealt with accordingly, and the law enforcement agencies, including the Judiciary, must ensure this is done,” he stated without any direct reference to or condemnation of any incident.

Attacks on police, DCE

President Akufo-Addo’s call comes in the wake of disturbances in Karaga and Sissala West, perpetrated by alleged NPP supporters, adding to 18 separate attacks reported by Citi News since the party came into office.

The incident at Karaga involved an attack on a police station, with protesting members freeing colleagues in custody, whilst the Sissala West incident involved an attack on the District Chief Executive.

Following such comments from the president, many have suggested that the government is only talking with little or no action when it comes to dealing with acts of vigilantism involving its supporters.

But the Minister of Interior, Ambrose Dery, refuted these assertions, and retorted that the NPP did not condone such actions.

The weekend before the Delta Force incident, President Akufo-Addo, had called on the Asantehene and given assurances that the rule of law would prevail, amid the reports of post-election disturbances.

Ambrose Dery also defended the lenient GHc1,800 fine slapped on each of the 13 members of pro-NPP group, Delta Force, who were hauled before a Kumasi court, after they raided the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council and were captured on a video manhandling the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, George Adjei.

During his vetting for the Interior Ministry portfolio, Ambrose Dery was hesitant to call for the disbandment of vigilante groups with ties to political parties.

He said he was instead in favour of de-linking individual offenses from partisan considerations, because in his view, there should be no group liability for criminal offenses committed by individuals.

Ahead of the 2016 elections, the then Minister for Interior, Prosper Douglas Bani, ordered the Ghana Police Service to disband all security and vigilante groups within political parties, arguing that the activities of such groups, threatens the stability of the country.

“All must be condemned and not be countenanced, however, handling of each complaint must be professionally pursued in that, you are a suspect, investigations conducted, rights are respected and people who deserve to be prosecuted will be prosecuted,” Ambrose Dery said at the time.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to them, the high unemployment rate in the country coupled with the lack of education on the negative effects of political party vigilantism has accounted for the worrying phenomenon.

The Upper East Regional executives of the various political parties disclosed this during a round table discussion organized by the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers(CODEO), on the menace of political party vigilantism and Ghana’s electoral politics held in Bolgatanga.

The executives who bemoaned the menace of vigilante groups on Ghana’s democracy and governance, either funded by political parties or top politicians were due to mistrust in the security services and lack of jobs.

But speaking to Citi News, Regional Youth Organizer of NPP, Atiru  Samuel and Regional Secretary of NDC, Thomas Abiola, expressed optimism that, job opportunities for the youth and education against vigilantism was the surest way to end the menace.

“Youth vigilantism needs political commitment because an idle hand is a devil’s workshop, so if the youth have something doing like under the NDC, tricycles were given to the youth who earned their living out of it and those without employable skills were trained and given jobs, but if we don’t improve on getting jobs for the youth, they will resort to all forms of political vigilantism,” Thomas Abiola stated.

“…But we need to educate the youth against vigilantism, various youth leaders of all political parties should come together as a team and educate the youth across the country against the menace.”

“…Currently, there are job opportunities under the Youth Employment Agency, and we will urge the youth of this country irrespective of the political party to apply and be engaged, this will help deal with the threat of vigilantism” Atiru Samuel added.

Member of CODEO’s advisory board, Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu, advocated for the security of tenure for the Inspector General of Police(IGP), adding that, the police Council should standardize the recruitment, promotions and transfers of personnel in the fight against vigilantism.

“There should be strict and equal application of the law against all criminal offences irrespective of their personalities and political affiliation. The police service should monitor carefully all the activities of youth groups and disband all criminal and combative youth groups.”

Political parties should review their codes of conduct to regulate  activities of their youth groups within their own parties, and sanction them if they violate such rules” Shiekh Aremeyaw noted.

CODEO’s National Coordinator, Albert Kofi Arhin, said the engagements with party executives and other stakeholders was to collate views on how to end the menace of political party vigilantism.

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to the Ashanti Regional Police’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Nketia Yeboah, the members of the vigilante group fled through a restricted area meant for judges and the police personnel were not expecting that.

[contextly_sidebar id=”1A8nBsgEYpHNJfJV0aP9E1eVozjFXB1d”]The 13 escaped after other members of the vigilante group monitoring the court proceedings sparked confusion on Thursday during the hearing.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, ASP Yeboah explained that the Delta Force’s escape route was “through a restricted area where no one was allowed to go. There has not been a precedent of that in any country. But we learn from such incidents and we have taken notice… it is not that we stood aloof or unconcerned.”

“It is not the number [of police personnel] that determined the escape or anything of that sort… if you were there, it will never occur to you that somebody will pass there,” he explained.

Maintaining law and order not beyond us

The Ashanti Region has seen some of the more extreme instances of vigilante action in recent times, beginning with the Delta Force’s raiding of the Regional Coordinating Council where they assaulted the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, George Adjei, and culminating the havoc at the Kumasi Circuit court.

With growing concerns of the police’s perceived laxity towards vigilante groups across the country, ASP Yeboah assured that the Ashanti Regional Police Comand was capable of ensuring law and order.

“It is not beyond us and the Ashanti Regional Police command can handle it… we didn’t just sit by. We want to prove that, contrary to the negative perceptions, we are up to the task,” he said.

“My Regional commander was the Northern Regional commander for about three years and you can imagine some of the cases that came up during his tenure. All of us are proven police officers. There is no way we will let things go out of hand like that.”

Escaped Delta Force members in police custody

ASP Yeboah was speaking after it was confirmed that the 13 accused members of the NPP-affiliated vigilante group reported themselves to Police and are in custody.

The 13 Delta Force members were facing charges for besieging Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council and the judge had ruled that the 13 be remanded to reappear before the court on the 20th of April, 2017 after charges of conspiracy to assault a public officer and causing unlawful damage.

The displeasure with the ruling sparked the confusion at the court leading to the escape of the 13. The Judge, Mary Senkyere was also almost assaulted by members of the vigilante group present.

Following the confusion at the court, the Ashanti Regional Police Command also arrested eight members of the group who attacked the court.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonmline.com/Ghana

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He made the comment at the Manhyia Palace on Saturday, when he paid a courtesy call on the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, as part of his three-day tour of the Ashanti Region.

“It will not be under my watch that people will take the law into their own hands, neither will it be under my watch that the laws of our land will not be enforced. That will never happen. The law will work without fear or favour,” the President declared.

Vigilante group raids Regional Coordinating Council

President Akufo-Addo’s remarks come after a pro-NPP vigilante group, Delta Force, stormed the premises of the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council, demanding the removal of the Regional Security Coordinator, George Adjei.

The group subsequently apologised to the President for the attack and pledged its support to the Regional Security Coordinator.

President Akufo-Addo subsequently summoned the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, to answer questions on the circumstances that led to the raid. and he further assured the Asantehene that government was working to quell similar incidents.

During the courtesy call, the President further assured the Asantehene that government was working to limit the occurrence of similar incidents.

“I know this matter is a source of great worry for you, Otumfuo. Let not your heart be troubled. The incident has occurred, and I assure you that measures have been put in place to forestall the re-occurrence of this issue in Asanteman, and for that matter, in any part of the country,” he added.

Gratitude for vote of confidence

President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that his visit to the Ashanti Region was to thank the Asantehene and Asanteman for the massive show of confidence reposed in him and the New Patriotic Party in the 2016 elections

“The votes I got in Ashanti was unprecedented. I, therefore came to show appreciation, and to tell Asanteman of the policy initiatives we are putting in place to ensure that we bring relief to the people of this country, and thereby return the country onto the path of progress and prosperity,” he added.

The President is later expected to hold meetings with the leadership of transport unions in the region, visit the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, visit the Kumasi Central Market and have an encounter with the media.

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Photos: Lauretta Timah

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