Nov Polls: Bani orders disbandment of all vigilante groups

Minister for the Interior, Prosper Bani, has charged the police service to immediately disband all faceless private security detail of political parties ahead of this year’s polls.

Recently, the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) was in the news after the party brought in three South African ex-cops to train the personal security detail of flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo. The three were subsequently deported.

The Inspector General of Police, Mr John Kudalor, has also had cause to warn political parties against using private security personnel and vigilante groups for protection ahead of the upcoming polls.

Speaking at a news conference in Accra on Friday June 24, Mr Bani encouraged political parties and their leaders to rely on the Ghana police service for their security and charged the police to dissolve all private security details.

“You must respond to security challenges in a way that will enhance our national image. Of the greatest importance is the need to keep an eye on the activities of all the so-called private security forces that are increasingly being linked to political parties. You must ensure the immediate disbandment of each and every one of them. Political parties and their leaders are expected to rely on the only legitimate and approved security organisation in the country to provide security at all times and this organisation is the Ghana police service”, he stated.

“I’m informed that the police, in recent times, in consultation with the political parties, have completed training of personnel to provide protection to the presidential [candidates] and [their] running mates. ... I understand also that special arrangements are being made for the two female presidential candidates, as well”, he noted, adding that “we cannot afford to leave the safety and security of this country and its people in the hands of faceless individuals and groups, who, in the end, might become the very weapons used to derail what has been so gloriously achieved”.