After eleven years of military rule, the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana was birthed \u2013 a constitution that brought about multi party democracy and its accompanied rights, responsibilities and limitations.<\/p>\n
Sadly, political parties \u2013 especially National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have set up vigilante groups that go on the rampage at one time or the other \u2013 a phenomenon that betrays the constitution that gives the right and responsibilities of political parties in Ghana.<\/p>\n
Chapter Seven of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana: \u201cRepresentation of the People\u201d, Article 55 (1), \u201cthe right to form political parties is hereby guaranteed\u201d.\u00a0 Article 55 (5), adds: \u201cthe internal organisation of a political party shall conform to democratic principles and its actions and purposes shall not contravene or be inconsistent with this Constitution or any other law\u201d<\/p>\n
The constitution defines the internal organisation of all political parties \u2013 its organisation must conform to democratic principles \u2013 the raising of vigilante groups for the purposes of personal security may look harmless; however, it shows the distrust political parties have in \u00a0state security services whether in opposition or in power\u00a0 \u2013 a phenomenon borne out of political polarisation of state security services<\/p>\n
Vigilantism in the Ghanaian body politic is a scar on the political conscience of our state. The NDC and the NPP defend actions of vigilante groups of their political parties; instead of bowing their heads in shame because they have created monsters who are out of control and the ripple effects is staring them in the face.<\/p>\n
Beyond the distrust that political parties have in state security, it shows that the state is ineffective in protecting them; thus the same mindset is handed down to these vigilante groups \u2013 thus monsters are created and set loose. If at any point in time a group of young men in a political party take the laws into their hands so as to get the attention of their paymasters,\u00a0 it says one thing \u2013 that there\u2019s break down of law and order.<\/p>\n
Law and order is important to the holistic development of every nation. No nation has ever developed in an atmosphere of lawlessness, disorderliness and chaos. Current activities of vigilante groups in Ashanti and Eastern Regions respectively needs much to be desired \u2013 an attack on the Regional Security Coordinator, locking of the NHIA offices and latest is the obstruction of the course of justice as they attacked a Kumasi Circuit Court to set free their members who were supposed to be remanded in custody \u2013 what impudence? Media reports suggest that the culprits have been arrested, but, should we get to the point where groups of this nature attack state institutions like there\u2019re no laws in this country? These acts of disrespect for law and order confirm the monsters that have been created out of these young men whose actions haunt their paymasters. The matter is a threat to national security \u2013 \u201ca source of worry\u201d as the President puts it succinctly. The police are powerless in dealing with these young men due to the political strings tied to the phenomenon.<\/p>\n
Frankly, as long as vigilante groups are created by political parties it will be an impossible task for the police to clamp down on these young men. The political parties have created monsters in the name of vigilante groups and it will take only these political parties to disband them.<\/p>\n
The only way to deal with this matter is to use the legal system to compel the political parties to disband these monsters of vigilante groups \u2013 for in civil societies where all actions of the citizenry are ordered by the constitution, political parties don\u2019t raise vigilante groups, they exercise their rights as citizens by depending on the state to protect them.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s for the purposes of law and order that we chose to have a constitution \u2013 let\u2019s show the whole world that our society is not one where political parties betray the very constitution that gives them their very existence.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
By: Alex Blege<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Author\u2019s note: Some members of the vigilante group, Delta Force attacked a Kumasi Circuit Court to free their members who were standing trial for their previous action on the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator. \u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The writer is a freelance journalist.<\/em><\/p>\n kw.ameblege@hotmail.com\/kwameselom12@gmail.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After eleven years of military rule, the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana was birthed \u2013 a constitution that brought about multi party democracy and its accompanied rights, responsibilities and limitations. Sadly, political parties \u2013 especially National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have set up vigilante groups that go on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[374],"tags":[2242,54,3],"yoast_head":"\n