'Smash them all!' - Kwesi Pratt wades into political vigilante groups debate

Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has called on Ghana's security agencies to take decisive action against political vigilante groups, describing their establishment and operation as an affront to the 1992 Constitution.

In a post on X on August 27, 2026, Pratt said the security services had a constitutional duty to “smash” such groups and enforce provisions that, in his view, clearly prohibit their establishment.

“The establishment and operation of political vigilante groups are an affront to the 1992 Constitution and the security services have a duty to smash them,” he wrote.

Pratt cited three provisions of the Constitution, arguing that they make clear that security-related organisations and forces cannot be established without constitutional or legislative authority.

He referred to Article 85, which states that no agency, establishment or organisation concerned with national security shall be established except as provided for under the Constitution.

Pratt also cited Article 200(2), which provides that no person or authority shall raise a police service except by or under the authority of an Act of Parliament.

He further pointed to Article 210(2), which states that no person shall raise an armed force except by or under the authority of an Act of Parliament.

“These provisions are clear and must be enforced,” he stressed.

Pratt has previously spoken strongly against political vigilantism, describing the activities of such groups as an abuse of power and expressing concerns about their continued existence despite efforts to disband them. His latest call places renewed attention on the role of Ghana's security agencies in preventing the formation and activities of politically affiliated groups that operate outside the country's constitutionally recognised security structures.

#VIGILANTE GROUP The establishment and operation of political vigilante groups are an affront to the 1992 Constitution and the security services have a duty to smash them.

Three articles of the 1992 Constitution clearly prohibit the establishment of these groups.

Article 85…

— Kwesi Pratt Jnr. (@kwesiprattjr) August 27, 2026