Vigilantism: I don’t feel safe – Prof Emmanuel Asante

Chairman of the National Peace Council, Rev Professor Emmanuel Asante, says he does not feel safe with the current rise of pro-government party vigilantism in the country.

There have been about 20 recorded cases of outbursts of chaos from groups aligned to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the wake of the party’s 2016 electoral victory.

The groups resorted to the seizure of toll booths, public toilets, closure of public offices, to a series of protests against presidential appointees.

Recently, the NPP youth clashed with the police in Sissala and chased out the District Chief Executive for the area, Mohammed Bako, because their preferred candidate was not appointed as the coordinator for the Micro-Finance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) for the district.

Rev Asante, reacting to the recurrent outburst of chaos by the youth on Accra-based Starr FM on Monday, 30 October, 2017 said he does not feel safe.

“Why would I feel safe if other people do not feel safe? No matter what my position is, and no matter what I put in place to protect myself or what clout I have, if an ordinary citizen of this country is not safe, I, as a citizen of this country, I’m not safe also and you are not safe,” he stated.

He charged the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, and the police to put their jobs on the line to make sure the youth do not act with impunity, and that, persons who break the law are severely punished.

“We should all ask the police who have been given that mandate to ensure the peace of this country to account for that. They should be held responsible, and responsibility goes with accountability and I think that it is important the Ghana Police Service rise to the occasion,” he added.

According to Rev Asante, the IGP or the Interior Minister resigning for not being able to restore law and order in the country “will indicate the maturity of our democracy that when something like this happens, people responsible for it are made to answer for what is happening”.

He continued: “Citizens should call on such people to resign because they have reneged; they have not been able to do what is expected of them. I trust the Minister of Interior, I know him very well, I worked with him, and I want to encourage him to truly put his job on the line and address this issue because this cannot go on in a country where we have accepted the rule of law. People cannot do this; we are not living in the jungle…”