John Dramani Mahama says President Akufo-Addo cannot flee from the blame of the current violence by vigilante groups because “he is the father of vigilantism.”
He said the President’s call for the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) to have a crunch meeting on how to disarm and disband such militant groups would need commitment, good faith and better structuring from him (President).
Mahama, who was a guest on an Accra-based radio station Friday, February 22, this year, said the NPP has absorbed its illegally trained para-military militants in the various state security services, therefore, if President Akufo-Addo wanted to show commitment in disbanding such militant groups, he should show good faith by cleaning the security services.
The former President added that all stakeholders including all other political parties, security experts and civil society organisations should also be part of the stakeholders’ engagement in which all participants would make vital contributions to ‘kill’ vigilantism in Ghana.
President Akufo-Addo, on the floor of Parliament to deliver his State of Nation Address yesterday, said there was the need for the leadership of the two major political parties to meet and discuss ways of disbanding vigilantism.
This was after the disgraceful electoral violence meted out to unarmed civilians at a by-election at Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency in January 2019.
John Mahama, though, said the President’s call was good, he would have to, first and foremost, show commitment by cleaning the state security services where the NPP’s trained para-military personnel have been given national identity cards as members of such security services.
He said he has always had confidence in the Ghana Police Service and Armed Forces “because these security services have been protecting us since time immemorial. The NPP and Nana Addo started these militant groups.”
He refreshed the memories of Ghanaians by the then candidate Akufo-Addo of his ‘all die-be-die’, ‘boot for boot’, ‘militants on our side’ statements and the NPP’s invitation of some South African mercenaries to train these militants in weapon to attack the state.
John Mahama said the attitude of Nana Addo and the NPP was the reason some people in the NDC had also formed the Hawks, Eagle and Dragon to defend the party, even though he said he would not subscribe to such groups which have the tendency of ruining the democracy of the country.
By: Umar Sheriff/awakenewsonline.com
