Catholic Bishops Conference to campaign against parties that 'pamper' vigilantism

Secretary-General of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, Rev Father Lazarus Anondee, has vowed to announce to all Catholic churches in the country to vote against any political party that plans to employ the services of vigilante groups during the 2020 elections.

He stated that they are prepared to campaign against any political party that will not show commitment towards completely dismantling vigilante groups they are affiliated with.

“Don’t be surprised. If any party does not demonstrate commitment to ending this, we may have no choice than to use our pulpits to campaign against them. The support that we, the Catholic bishops have for the peace council is very strong. We will continue to throw our weight behind all other stakeholders that will carry out this dialogue,” Rev Father Anondee cautions.

This was in reaction to NDC’s refusal to sign the final roadmap put together by the National Peace Council towards ending political vigilantism in the country.

The Rev Father added that the issue of vigilantism in the country should not be taken lightly as it has the tendency of destroying the peace Ghana is being acknowledged for.

“Let us not allow this issue of vigilantism to embarrass us. It is a reality that we face and I don’t think that we should pretend that it is not an issue and toy with it. We cannot toy with this,” he said.

Rev Father Anondee was part of the many other stakeholders including NCCE, Office of the Chief Imam, NPP, Christian Council, Police Service who registered their displeasure at NDC’s sudden decision not to sign the said document.