Member of Parliament for Assin South and ranking member of Ghana’s Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Interior, Rev. Ntim Fordjour, has warned that political vigilantism now poses a greater threat to Ghana’s security than violent extremism.
Speaking in an interview on JoyNews, he warned that the rise of party-linked thugs poses a direct danger to the country’s democratic future.
“Today, as ranking member on defence and interior, I can tell you authoritatively that the threat of political vigilantism is way higher than the threat of violent extremism and terrorism in this country,” he stated.
He argued that if political vigilantism is not addressed swiftly and firmly, Ghana could lose the integrity of its electoral system.
“If we don’t nib it in the bud, a time will come we will have no democracy because whoever becomes MP, whoever becomes president, will not be by the determination of the thumbs of our citizens… but by whichever political party has the most macho men,” he warned.
[embedded content]He pointed to the recent violence during the Ablekuma North rerun as a clear example of political interference and lawlessness, blaming operatives allegedly linked to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“NPP boys will never attack their former minister. They are known NDC people. Their pictures are out there and their videos are out there,” he said. “To date, not a single arrest.”
Rev Ntim Fordjour said the Ghana Police Service remains capable and professional but is being obstructed. “The only challenge is that somebody is holding their hands back… If that instruction is removed even today, they will go and arrest them,” he said. “We have a professional, fair police force who do not know political colour.”
He called for an end to political interference in law enforcement. “We are urging whichever that political hand is to stop the interference and allow the police to cause the arrest,” he said.
Recalling past efforts to address similar violence, he cited how the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election violence was met with bipartisan condemnation and a commission of inquiry.
“During our time, what happened was that when Ayawaso West Wuagon violence took place we all condemned it,” he said. “We saw, we saw commission of inquiry. What is what is bigger, what is bigger in holding people accountable for their crime than commission of inquiry?”
“Because arising out of that, any element of criminality is is is prosecuted.The biggest action that you can take in such approach is when you even arrest and prosecute individuals. It is one action that is commendable, but it is not even to the point of dealing with it holistically to the point of establishing , presidential commission of inquiry into the matter transparently.”
He added, “So that all the hooligans will be there and they will be interrogated who sent them, why they did that and all that, so that other dimensions which were not even known to the public will come to the fore and be a deterrence to the larger community within the country.”
Reflecting on how his party handled political violence during its time in power, he insisted they did not tolerate such actions.
“We didn’t condone political violence, and what we saw in Ayawaso West Wuagon, which we all condemned just as we condemned any other political violence associated with any election time past, was nothing close to what happened in a rerun of Ablekuma just 19 polling stations.”
Rev. Ntim Fordjour warned that failing to act on the violence would have serious consequences. “If the culprits are not dealt with, you are going to find a political vigilantism emboldened. It’s going to be a recipe for disaster.”
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