Jailing vigilantes not enough; engage them – Political analyst
Political Analyst and Chief Operations Officer of Dalex Finance Joe Jackson has chastised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for calling for the arrest of individuals engaged vigilantism.
Mr. Jackson noted that the NPP has failed to put these groups in order; a situation he said has serious consequences for the well-being of the country.
He said there is the need for the NPP to fulfill its promises to members of these vigilante groups in order to deal with the root cause of their actions instead of looking on as they cause destruction.
“It is not an issue of take them and dump them in jail. What you are seeing is a reaction of people who do not have jobs, people who are marginalized…”
“We are not going to stop this by throwing them into jail. What we should see is a systematic way of engagement,” Joe Jackson stated.
“I take issue with the NPP; the response should not be ‘throw them into jail’. The response has to be that the party will engage with them and find out ways to let out the frustration,” Joe Jackson said while speaking on TV3 New Day on Saturday, October 13, 2018.
Mr. Jackson’s comment follows a recent attack on the Member of Parliament for Tafo Pankrono, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, by pro-NPP vigilante group, Delta Forces, at a meeting with constituency executives.
Chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education ( NCCE) Josephine Nkrumah subsequently condemned the attack by the Delta Forces and charged the NPP to disband all vigilante groups in the country.
Speaking on the call made by the NCCE boss, Mr. Jackson said it takes more than just disbanding vigilante groups to deal with such issues in the country.
According to him, the vigilante groups feel political parties owe them based on promises made during election campaign period.
“They are people who feel that in the run-up to elections, the politicians made them several promises. Some of them feel they put their lives at risk for the party.
“These guys are looking for jobs. You made promises, and after that, no jobs are given.”
The political analyst further charged the various political parties to move beyond talks in dealing with the issue.
“You cannot be seen on one hand condemning vigilante groups, in the case of the NPP because they are the party in power, and yet actively on one side be saying I am going to grow my vigilante group. They are sowing seeds of trouble for all of us.”
He noted that this poses serious security threats to the country, and ought not to be taken likely.
“Can you imagine an election in 2020 when both parties have vigilante groups trying to protect the ballot box? That is a recipe for chaos and disaster and both parties should be condemned for their positions on those issues,” Joe Jackson stressed.
Source: 3news.com
