The National Youth Coordinator, of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP) Divine Nkrumah has said vigilantes said to be affiliated to some political parties in Ghana are nothing but hired thugs.
Supporting President Akufo Addo’s call for the two leading political parties, the NDC and NPP to ban these groups affiliated to them, Divine Nkrumah said these young and well-built guys have no loyalty to any political party and only carry out their crimes when the highest bidder pays them.
“These so-called vigilantes have no loyalty, they are hired gangs, they offer their services to the highest bidder. They are not die-hard supporters of any political party. They are criminals, in the morning and afternoon when you meet them they are landguards, in the evening they are armed robbers and in the political season, they call themselves members of a vigilante group. I expected the President to fire a warning to the IGP, not to countenance the activities of these vigilantes because he’s (President) said he will not support such criminal acts.”
He urged President Akufo Addo not to leave the political parties alone to find a solution to this vigilantes menace as that will be a fruitless exercise.
“If he leaves the call for the disbandment of these vigilantes to the political parties, it will come to naught. Asiedu Nketia, John Boadu, Sammy Awuku, Joshua Akamba, all these people are behind this vigilantism and they benefit and exploit the vulnerability of these young people to gain political advantage. Let’s not play the legendary ostrich, people have come to state that they know these vigilante groups and they sponsor them, so why don’t we go after such people but we waste time and resources trying to negotiate. It means the President himself is not committed to fighting vigilantism.”
