Sammy Awuku slams Police for failing to deal with political vigilantism

National Youth Organiser of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sammy Awuku has taken a swipe at the security agencies in the country, particularly, the police for failing to deal with pro-NPP vigilante groups.

According to the outspoken youth leader, the inaction on the part of the security forces to deal with political vigilantism was causing overwhelming distress to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

In his opinion, the President has done his part by appointing persons whom he (President Akufo-Addo) deemed to be competent, to man the security of the country.

“it is therefore expected that those people bring their competencies to bear in such times that some groups are causing disturbances in the country”, he said this on Saturday, October 28,2017 when he appeared on Newsfile on Joy FM in Accra.

The President on several occasions has had to issue out command before the security, particularly the police, moved in to deal with activities of vigilante groups particularly those loyal to the governing party.

The most recent incident happened in the Northern Region specifically Karaga and Sisala districts where irate youth loyal to the NPP stormed the Assembly offices causing destruction to property in protest over the failure of the District Chief Executives (DCEs) there to secure them jobs, ten months after they helped the party to recapture power.

Addressing chiefs and people of Manya Krobo in the Eastern Region during the celebration of the annual Ngmayem festival on Friday, October 27, 2017, President Akufo-Addo stressed that “the application of the laws of the land will occur, in the words of the judicial oath, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will, and without recourse to the political, religious or ethnic affiliations of any citizen of the land.”

Consequently, the police arrested the Karaga constituency chairman of his (President Akufo-Addo) party, Tahiru Zakari, as well as three others suspected to be part of those who caused the disturbances at Karaga.

But Sammy Awuku who described the incidents as “very disturbing” said, “the police owe it as a sacred and mandatory duty to enforce the laws of our land” without having to wait for the President’s order.

According to him, the military should be brought in to partner the police just like “they are being involved in the fight against illegal mining, to nib the canker the bud, what is gradually becoming a culture of impunity”.

“It’s about time that we brought onboard the military…It’s about time that the security capos stopped breaking the heart of the president,” Sammy Awuku who is also the Board Chairman of the Youth employment Agency (YEA) recommended.

He said, the party was determined in dealing with what he termed “internal backstabbers” in order to “jealously guard the political power that we have won.”

Meanwhile, National Organiser for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kofi Adams said, the President’s statement for the security to deal with the thugs was doubtful.

Kofi Adams recounted over 18 of such disturbances recorded across the country in the last 10 months since the NPP took over power after the Nana Akufo-Addo publicly condemned and yet no action was taken.

“If truly the president is unhappy, we should have been seeing some more action than we are seeing. I don’t believe that the president is unhappy,” he said.

The NDC organiser laid the blame on the doorstep of the leadership of the NPP, whom he said kept mute over unguarded comments made by some leading party functionaries in the heat to the 2016 elections.

“I don’t think that they [youth] are just acting based on nothing…I think that leadership is complicit in this matter,” Kofi Adams said.