Party Militias: We'll obey Akufo-Addo's 'meet NDC' order – NPP

The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has welcomed an order by President Nana Akufo-Addo for the party to meet the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to dialogue on how to disband all militia groups affiliated to them.

While delivering his third state of the nation address to parliament on Thursday, 21 February 2019, the president said if the NDC and the NPP do not voluntarily meet to fashion out ways to dissolve the party militias, he would apply legislation to disband them himself.

“I want to make a sincere, passionate appeal to the leaders of the two main political parties in our country – NPP and NDC – to come together as soon as possible, preferably next week, to agree on appropriate measures to bring an end to this worrying and unacceptable phenomenon of vigilantism in our body politic.

“Mr Speaker, I’ve asked the leadership of the NPP to extend an invitation to the leadership of the NDC for such a meeting. The security services of the country will be on standby to assist such a meeting. If voluntary disbandment by the parties is not feasible, then I’ll initiate legislation in the matter.”

Reacting to this in an interview with Accra100.5FM’s parliamentary correspondent, Richard Appiah Sarpong, the NPP’s Director of Communication, Mr Buaben Asamoa, who is also the MP for Adentan, said: “Let us all get the courage and dialogue over this matter. We are politicians and we go to Ghanaians for power to serve them and, so, if the electorate are against vigilantism, it is only proper for the political parties to end it now.

“So, we welcome the order given by the president. As a party, we are now going to sit down and look for the way forward in meeting the NDC on this matter.”