Vigilantism: Enough with the talk, act now! - Inusah Fuseini dares Akufo-Addo

The Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini has admonished President Akufo-Addo to cease the assurances to restore peace and order in the country and exercise his executive powers as a President in the face of the various violent acts purported by some vigilante groups since their assumption of power.

Speaking on Newsfile on JoyNews, Mr. Fuseini said that the pledges from the President’s camp to deal with the issue is not enough to avert the situation. According to him, previous assurances from the President and government have yielded very little results as the incessant attacks still persist.

“The President should stop talking and act! The President has enough executive authority to deal with this lawlessness, and there must be no attempt to justify the lawlessness that is happening now on the basis of mass occurrence. They should stop talking and act and act with determination and commitment”, he said.

The legislator argues that the President, being the first gentleman of the land, has absolute power to act if the police service fails to perform their duties of dealing with such issues.

“Where the police fails to act, the President must exercise his powers and he has the power to do so”. he noted.

"The police, why do we hold them responsible? We hold them responsible because they are responsible for the maintenance but the democratic arrangement makes the police subservient to the President. They lack potency to take on cases that have the character of political wrongdoing of law and order and the protection of property," said the law maker.

He also blamed individuals in the NPP for spurring on such acts indicating that their actions contradict to a large extent, government’s stance on the issue and encourages perpetrators to continue the attacks.

"You heard what some political actors said even before elections... When the Delta Forces were arrested, an NPP MP said it will be a serious blunder if these people were punished and that these people contributed tremendously to the victory of the party. NPP condemned them as a party but the NPP leadership individually said they were ready to defend these people… I’m talking about Kennedy Agyapong and this was coming from him to the establishment. When as a party, government, you don’t speak with one voice on an issue as bad as the vigilante groups attacking state officials, you send mixed signals, people engaged in that act will definitely exploit that gap within the party” he said.



Background

There have been several acts of violence perpetuated by members of various vigilante groups since government assumed power.

About 18 attacks under the aegis of vigilante groups linked to the NPP have taken place in Ghana since December 2016.

The most recent is another incident of violence by NPP youth at Karaga and Sissala West.

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.

Thursday afternoon's incident is the second in two days after youth of Karaga in the Northern region locked up the office of the Youth Employment Agency coordinator last Wednesday, renewing concerns about violent attacks and the disregard for the law by groups affiliated to a political party, usually referred to as 'political vigilante groups'.

Many have suggested following assurances from President Akufo-Addo in previous incidents that government is only talking with little or no action when it comes to dealing with acts of vigilantism involving its supporters.