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COP Mr. Nathan Kofi Boakye delivers his New Year's speech in Accra. Image: GABRIEL AHIABOR
The director general of the Bureau of Professional Standards Police (PPSB), Nathan Kofi Boakye, police commissioner (COP), said the police were determined to crack down on political self-defense groups in the country.
He added that the police would no longer accept the machinations of political figures behind the formation of these groups.
Presenting a lecture on political vigilance and Ghanaian democracy at the New Year's conference and high school at the University of Ghana in Accra, he said that although some politicians have thwarted police efforts to to face the threat, the time had come to take control. bull by the horn in the interest of the country.
"It is difficult to arrest members of self-defense groups of political parties in power because of political interference and the organizers of these groups have the courage to stay on the radio and s? take it to the police.
"The police department is ready to confront self-defense groups.So, despite the political beacons and threats of politicians who serve as entrepreneurs to these groups, we say that enough, it's not enough. is enough, "he said.
Other speakers on the topic were the Director of the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research of the International Peacekeeping Training Center Kofi Annan (KAIPTC), Dr. Emmanuel Kwesi Aning and the flag bearer of the People's Party of the Convention (CPP) in the 2016 elections, Mr. Ivor Kobina Greenstreet.
Partnership
COP Boakye called for a strong partnership between criminal justice actors, including the prosecution and the judiciary, as well as civil society, to tackle the threat holistically.
"The police are bold and ready to arrest members of self-defense groups, but we need the support of civil society and other key actors.
"If we stop these guys and the courts give them light slaps from the bottom, they will continue to be encouraged to do what they do, so let's all fight together," he urged.
Vigilance
Self-defense groups are mostly affiliated with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Some of the groups engaged in all kinds of activities during and after the 2016 general election, which resulted in tension and disruption of the public peace.
In the aftermath of the elections, members of the invisible forces and delta forces, apparently linked to the nuclear power plant, stormed state institutions, including the pbadport office, the courts, and the police stations. toll, and seized public toilets.
action
Dr. Aning said, in turn, that political vigilance in the country has become more sophisticated and that all must make concerted efforts to deal with it.
He noted, for example, that self-defense groups were now being formed by "political entrepreneurs" as an enterprise with decentralized structures that were difficult to repress.
Dr. Aning said the economic dynamics of political vigilance should be critically examined, as more groups were formed as a result of the incentives badociated with training.
"Before the 2016 elections, there were 17 groups, but in the aftermath of the elections, we saw the formation of many other groups.
Those who have acted as vigilantes have had economic benefits and those who have not had are forming their own groups to have their turn, which is dangerous for us.
"From where I sit, I see the formation of more organized and structured self-defense groups that have access to offensive weapons, so if we do not pay attention to it, our country will find itself in a state of affairs. serious security situation, "he warned.
Dr. Aning emphasized the need for closer collaboration between state institutions to combat incentives and disincentives to forming self-defense groups in order to deter people from participating in the threat.
Commitment
For his part, Greenstreet said political vigilance persisted because political parties had played the ostrich, condemning the act in public and encouraging them behind closed doors.
"It's easier for politicians to say that they have zero tolerance for activism, but they have to go the extra mile to demonstrate it.
With the approach of the 2020 elections, it is becoming increasingly clear that expectations are not being met and that there is therefore a more fertile foundation for vigilance, "he said.
He called for decisive action by all who count to eliminate self-defense groups in order to guarantee the protection of peace and security of the country.
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