Meeting next week on party militia – Akufo-Addo brings together the leaders of the NPP and NDC

General News on Thursday, February 21, 2019

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-02-21

President Nana Akufo-Addo has brought together the political leaders of the two main political parties to end the threat of party militias as citizens fear more and more before the 2020 elections.

Speaking in his third speech on the state of the nation before parliament, the president called for a meeting between the new ruling patriotic party and the opposition National Democratic Congress.

He favored next week's meeting where both parties "will agree appropriate measures to the disturbing and unacceptable phenomenon".

The president could not be mistaken about the worrying activities of the party's militias following the first death in 2019 related to their activities.

NDC militia "The Hawks" reportedly killed a party activist in Kumasi, the regional capital of ashanti, while a party meeting was being held.

The political violence that stained a routine by-election in the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency in the Greater Accra region would have left nuances on the work of the militia.

During these two episodes of politically motivated violence, the government was under intense pressure to repress the harmful works of party militias.

In response, the president revealed that his first instinct was to let the police investigate.

But, police battling complicity in the face of the threat and skepticism surrounding his ability to do so, the president explained that he had opted for an investigative commission to investigate the violence. Ayawaso West Wuogon.

The Commission is in its second week of television hearings in Accra.

The president praised his choice of commissioners as independent and keen Ghanaians and said that the investigation was "the only way" to tackle the chancre in a global manner.

"The time has come to put an end to political violence in our system," he chanted to the House's applause.

But, reinforcing his proposals to fight against violence, the president wants a bipartisan approach.

The NDC has already criticized the need for an investigative commission, but seems to have relaxed its stance in recent days. Their reaction to the last recommendation of the president is expected in the coming days.

But the president, perhaps aware of the deadlocks of the supporters, also promised to go even further beyond a bipartite solution if the leaders of the NPP and NDC did not react to his accusations.

"I will introduce a bill on this subject," he threatened. The badysis of possible legislation could trigger another debate as to whether existing laws are already sufficient to control canker.

Many people think that law enforcement is a weakness of the Ghanaian body politic.

Engaging in rhetoric, the president called on political leaders to value the legacy of peace bequeathed to Ghanaians by their ancestors.

"Our children and our grandchildren will not forgive us," he said, as Ghana fell into chaos.

He added that the blood and hard work of Ghana's patriarchs and freedom fighters in gaining independence is too expensive to pay for political violence.

He recited the second stanza of the national anthem to emphasize the need to unite all efforts to solve the critical problems of Ghana.