I’m disappointed in political parties for inability to disband vigilante groups – Security expert

As far as compliance to disbanding vigilante groups in the country is concerned, political parties have barely adhered to the road map, security expert Adib Sani has said.

According to him, the inability of political parties to disband vigilante groups is partially accountable for the seeming insecurity in the country, ahead of the December polls.

Speaking in an interaction with GhanaWeb, he said; “We need to also deal with the issue of political vigilantism which I must say I’m extremely disappointed and appalled in the political parties for their inability despite signing a number of documents at the behest of the Peace Council, Ghana Police Service…”

He argues that the country’s democracy risks being hijacked if parties involved refuse to disband such groups.

“These groups have now become so emboldened; they’re now armed and staring to see themselves as states within the state. That is very disturbing because they can hijack our democracy,” Adib Sani said.

In July 2019, the government passed into law the Vigilantism and Related Offences Bill, 2019.

The purpose of the law is to disband political party vigilante groups and forbid acts of vigilantism in the country, following the continuous violence that has characterized the country’s by-elections.

But it appears that despite this ban, the activities of these groups are still ongoing in various communities across the country.