Nat’l Peace Council forms monitoring team over vigilantism

The National Peace Council is in the process of forming a monitoring group to mount close observation on activities of political parties in relation to peace, stability and security.

The move is part of a roadmap to ensure that political vigilantism is eradicated from the nation’s striving democratic dispensation since she has passed Vigilantism related Offences and Regulation Act 2019 (Act 999) which has criminalised vigilantism.

The law states that a political party shall not directly or indirectly form, organise, operate or engage in activities of vigilantism, that such acts are criminal offence which culprits are liable to conviction to a fine of not less than 1,000 penalty units and not more than 25,000 penalty units.

A Code of Conduct and Roadmap to ending political vigilantism developed by a technical committee following a series of dialogues organised by the National Peace Council necessitated by unprecedented electoral violence that characterised the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency in the Greater Accra Region by-election in 2019 has since been signed on to by two major political parties, New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) who are major culprits.

The 31-page roadmap contains an action plan for political parties in both short, medium and long term to eradicate political vigilantism from political dispensation, flowing from that about 27 identifiable political vigilantes associated with NPP and NDC were reportedly disbanded.

However, pockets of violence that have characterised voters’ registration exercise has raised concerns over subtle existence of political hoodlums.

Chairman of National Peace Council, Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, said the monitoring group that would be formed would ensure surveillance was placed on members of disbanded vigilante groups.

“One way forward stated in roadmap document is formation of monitoring group that will be monitoring what is happening on grounds which has been done, members of the monitoring group are being drawn from security agencies, political parties and civil society organisations and we are working on it.
“Persons who sponsor and profit from electoral violence must be fished out and dealt with in accordance with the law, security agencies must be fair and firm to deal with any miscreant who attempts to disturb peace, unity and stability of the country to help complement efforts of the Council to ensure free, fair, credible, transparent and peaceful elections. -kasapafmonline.com