The National
Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has urged the government to ensure the
strict enforcement of the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act 2019 before the
2020 general election.
It noted that the findings of a survey by the
Center for Democratic Development (CDD)- Ghana which revealed that vigilante
groups are still active and budding in various parts of the country despite its
illegality and also involved females.
The Commission
stressed on the need to critically implement the dictates of the act to ensure
that such groups are deterred from perpetrating violence before, during and
after the 2020 elections.
According to Ms Josephine Nkrumah, the
Chairperson of the Commission, “we really hope the survey and regulations will
not be taken lightly but we will find the law enforcement agencies themselves
going ahead and coming out with expedition because right now they have full
backing of the Vigilantism Act, they can look at criminal elements and allow
full rigors of the law apply.
“This
time round the vigilante act prescribes 10 to 15 years of someone going to jail
for flouting the act. It important that we test the law to serve as deterrent
before the 2020 elections since findings from survey conducted by CDD revealed
vigilante activities are growing at an alarming rate involving even females in parts
of the country despite introduction of Vigilantism and Related Offences Act,”
Ms Nkrumah cautioned.
The report found activities and associated
groups are related to the two major political parties, the New Patriotic Party
(NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) which also found women were
beginning to play key roles in such vigilante activities.
On cause of electoral violence and vigilantism,
the report found major causes were ‘Winner-Takes-All’ politics, unemployment and
poverty as well as politicisation of chieftaincy disputes, land litigation,
seeming mistrust for state institutions such as the Electoral Commission and
police motivating formation of vigilante groups.
Political vigilante groups with affiliation to NPP and the NDC have been at the forefront of unleashing torrents of violence in various forms which remained major source of concern for the citizenry and engaged by National Peace Council to find way to address the menace of political party vigilantism. -citinewsroom.com
