National Peace Council – Ghanaians Must Not Expect Akufo-Addo To Order Arrests

• Posted on October 30, 2017October 30, 2017
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

The Chairman of the National Peace Council Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante has said it is inappropriate for Ghanaians to expect President Akufo-Addo to order arrests in the seeming scourge of vigilantism that has engulfed the country.

According to him, the responsibility lies with the security agencies to play their role of ensuring that the country is rid of thuggery including political vigilantism.

Over the last few weeks, NPP vigilante groups in the Northern region have repeatedly impeded officials of the school feeding programme from doing their work over claims that the process that led to their appointment was skewed. They have hence threatened to keep the doors to the secretariat of the program in the region locked until their preferred choice of staff are selected.

In Accra and other places in the country, different vigilante groups under different names, all associated with the NPP, have stormed state offices and seized state properties as part of protests against individuals working there.

Speaking on the Morning Starr Monday, Reverend Asante told Francis Abban that the country is insecure as a result of the acts of vandalism by vigilante groups.

“The security agencies are there to do their jobs. If we don’t trust the police to protect us in such matters, then we are dead.  I trust the Minister of Interior, I want to encourage him especially now that he has put his work on the line. We shouldn’t expect the President to order who should be arrested and who shouldn’t be arrested,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Interior minister Ambros Dery has said the Inspector General of Police must do more to stop the menace.

“Without support from the citizenry, we’ll have a challenge dealing with some of these things. We are not condoning any of the activities of the vigilante groups. We can do better and we should do better in dealing with the issue of vigilantism. The police depend on Intelligence to work, I will not say the IGP has failed, the IGP can do better but he has not failed. The activities of vigilante groups come as a surprise and the police are doing their best. We’ll push the police and other agencies to go as far as they can to ensure sanity in the system,” he assured.