Mr. John Boadu, the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (N.P.P)has appeared before the Emile Short Commission of Inquiry on the Ayawaso West Wuogon violence, to give his evidence.
According to Mr. Boadu, vigilante groups who are tagged as pro-NPP like the Invisible Forces, Kandaha Boys, Bolga Bulldogs and Delta Force, have some usefulness to members of the NPP by providing support.
He has said that he has personally enjoyed the benefit of security from some young men (who may be tagged as vigilante) when he was threatened by the brother of Hon. Collins Dauda, at a voters re-registration centre in the Asutifi constituency, in the Ashanti region.
The General Secretary of the N.P.P indicated that the N.P.P. does not own or sponsor vigilante groups that are allegedly linked to the party.
In giving his testimony about the day of the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election, he said that on the day of the elections, he visited all 137 polling stations in the constituency.
He added that at the polling stations, in addition to the police and military that are usually deployed during elections, there were personnel from the Immigration and Prison services, and few from the National Security Services.
According to Mr. Boadu, he heard about the violence at La-Bawaleshie on the radio, at around 9:30 am, in the morning of the election.
He further said that he rushed to the polling station, and upon reaching there, calm had been restored and voters were voting; however, the presence of security was heavy at the La Bawaleshie Presbyterian School as compared to other polling stations.
According to the N.P.P General Secretary, it is normal to see National Security operatives at by-elections, but they are not in uniforms.
He said it will be very difficult for police to provide security to political parties as people have lost trust in them.
He recommended that the security service be strengthened for the trust of the people of Ghana to be restored in the fight against vigilantism.
Source: GhanaJustice/S.Ayisi
