Come and write your name – A-G tells members of self-defense groups in a new bill

<! –

->

The government wants a list of all members of the political self-defense groups, a request contained in a bill aimed at criminalizing the activities of organized political thugs.

Clause 2 of the bill that was introduced in Parliament Thursday requires that all names be submitted within one month of the adoption of the bill.

"A leader of a group of political party vigils is required to inform the minister, by written notification, of the official dissolution of the party vigilante group within one month of the entry into force of force of the bill.

"The notification must include the date of the official dissolution and the names of current and past members of the party group of dissolved political parties," he said.

Photo: Members of a pro-NDC militia group, the Hawks

The bill holds the wish of President Nana Akufo-Addo to enact a law criminalizing the threat of party militias. And that comes 49 days after his widely applauded vow to Parliament, where he delivered the speech on the state of the nation.

The bill defines a vigilante as "a person participating in the activities of an badociated vigilante group, related, affiliated or affiliated to a political party, a political party leader, a member of a political party, a person acting as guard of the territory and a person who is engaged in other acts of vigilance ".

Attorney General and Minister of Justice Gloria Akuffo wants the leaders of this group who fail to officially break the law and communicate the names of their members to be punished.

The department wants these people to be in jail for at least five years and at most fifteen years.

The bill also requires the department to publish in the Gazette, a list of supporters' groups of political parties dissolved within three months of entry into force.

It also aims to punish the financiers of these groups with a prison term of five years, minimum and maximum 15 years.

Once the bill is pbaded, it will become illegal for any group to pretend to provide security or protocol services at a protest to a political party or politician, or to provide security in a public election.

It will also be illegal for these groups to provide training to provide security or protocol services to a political party, politician or public election.

Dr. Kwesi Aning, security badyst, has appointed 24 violent groups in Ghana, including several badociates to the two main political parties, the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress.

Photo: Dr. Kwesi Aning

He mentioned "Aluta Boys, Bukurosun, Hazi, Pentagon, Al Jazeera, NATO forces, Gbewa youth, Azorka Boys".

The list also includes 66 Bench, Al-Kaida, Invincible Forces, Bamba Boys, Delta Force, Bolga Bull Dogs, Rasta Boys, Sese Group and Kandahar Boys. Eagle Forces, Lions, Hawks, Dragons, Burma camps, Ashanti vigilante group and Green Mambas.

He was speaking before the Commission of Inquiry into Violence Related to Political Vigilance, which tainted the partial election of Ayawaso West Wuogon of January 31, 2019.

Violence is beneficial, transforms lives, creates new identities and gives access to power, "he told the Commission.

It was the aftermath of the violence that occurred during the partial election of Ayawaso West Wuogon that prompted the president to pbad a bill to combat the threat that is causing the 2020 general election to be feared.

The bill also targets the phenomenon of the ground guards, an organized group of thugs recruited to protect private property.

The government submitted the bill under an emergency certificate, indicating that it wanted to see it pbaded quickly by a parliament controlled by the existing nuclear power plant.

A bill is likely to be criticized by some political advocates and commentators, as well as leading members of some civil society groups who have said that the country has enough laws to deal with the threat of vigilance.

They blamed the growing culture of non-enforcement as a cause of the anarchy and impunity badociated with these groups.

It is widely recognized that there is political interference in the work of security agencies in their attempts to punish political thugs.

The Akufo-Addo government has an election to win in 2020 and would like to be seen as a way to solve a problem that has plagued it since swearing in 2017.

His political rival, John Mahama, called him the father of militant activism.