Vice President of policy think tank, IMANI Ghana, Kofi Bentil says the activities of pro-NPP vigilante groups, if not controlled by the party, will erode its goodwill.
He said the actions of the thugs do not only destabilize the security of the country, but bring to question the NPP’s stance on rule of law and its readiness to fight crime.
Speaking on Joy FM's news analysis programme Newfile on Saturday, Mr Bentil who is also a private legal practitioner said “this is taking a lot of moral high ground from the NPP. If this doesn’t stop, this will be the beginning of the end of the NPP.”
The activities of pro-NPP vigilante groups – Invincible Forces and Delta Forces – have caused a lot of outrage in the country.
Since the NPP won power in the 2016 general elections, these groups have been on rampage seizing public institutions, beating up members of the opposition National Democratic Congress and sacking officials appointed by the previous government from their posts.
In a recent incident, members of the Delta Force stormed the offices of the Security Cordinator in the Ashanti regional capital Kumasi, forcing him out of office and subsequently invaded a court hearing to free the suspects arrested for the earlier raid.
The double attack on the security apparatus and the judiciary have incensed many.
Although these actions have been condemned by some members of the party, Mr Bentil believes an attack on a court is frightening and unacceptable.
“The court is the final bulwark of our democracy, if we start attacking courts, we are all going to be subjects to the rule of the jungle.”
Mr Bentil said the NPP’s attempt to juxtapose the behaviour of the hooligans to that of the Montie 3, is disappointing.
For him, no matter how hard the party tries to justify it, “the lesson is that whether you toast it, fry it or boil it, or bake it, there is no way of making it look good.
“Judges are people we call ‘My Lord’, we give them titles that we ordinarily give God …Even the president’s actions are subject to the review of a judge so the last thing you do is to attack a court,” he added.
Police response
Mr Bentil described the response of the police during the incident at court as disastrous.
He said the police had enough time to call for back up before the incident because the thugs went to the court early and started the disturbances before their case was called.
It has become apparent that for about an hour before the proceedings the Delta Forces had already besieged the court and started disrupting proceedings of cases that were called before theirs.
Their failure to take a proactive step for Mr Bentil, is worrying.
“Regardless of what happened, the police should have known that this kind of situation required more men. Even if they made a mistake in arranging the resources they needed in the beginning, you had all this time, so was there no kind of monitoring of the situation.
“I worry that you have a situation where people mass up break into a court…that catastrophic failure of the police should be watched and some people must answer questions. This should not happen again,” he said.
Editor-in-chief of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Kweku Baako Jnr who was also a panel on the show said the thugs should be prosecuted.
He said there is no way the 13 people, if evidence provides sufficient indication that they were wrong, should be allowed to walk.
“Deal with them according to law,” he said, adding that “there should be an additional charge for escaping and those who invaded the court should be punished.”
He described the behaviour of the thugs as the highest form of contempt.
He said this issue should not be swept under the carpet because “It is about time that now we see evidence of how the prosecutions ended and I pray that we have custodial sentence.”
Source: myjoyonline.com
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Nadaa akuffo addo has no any good track record. No wonder Ghanaians rejected him 3 times at poll! And l wonder why Ghanians made such a mistake this time. Was it becauze of his begging and prostrating for your vote? Can anything good come from a voilent person? Can anything good come from a drug peddler? Can anything good come from arrogant and rude person? Can anything good come from a person who smuggle criminals to country to train their invisible miscreants? Can anything good comes from unpresidential material ***barred word*** dwarf akuffo addo? Can anything good come from all die be die, yen akanfo, ethnocentric ***barred word***? Anyway it's not too late since everybody that voted for this criminal has regretted except the invisible hooligans we will throw him out of the presidency shortly. I am sure and nadaa akuffo addo knows that if election conducted today he will lose big time! We all know that national patapaa party (npp) is not a responsible party. It is a completely a lawless party. So l was surprised when akuffo addo hypocritically said 'npp is a party of rule of law'. Is it taking over public institutions by your miscreant and hooligan party members that is the rule of law? Or destruction of public property the rule of law? Is the self-acclaimed president akuffo addo's condoning and conniving with this irresponsible and dastardly act the rule of law? Or killing people you have defeated in an election that is the rule of law? Akuffo addo and kennedy agyapong are criminals. Akuffo addo illegally brought foreign terrorists to come and trained npp foot soldiers to do what they are doing now. They thought they would lose the election and cause mayhem but those trained criminals became disappointed and frustrated when President Mahama with his spirit of humility accepted defeat and therefore decided to test the potent of their concealed mischief on innocent Ghanaians to annihilate them. Patapaa akuffo addo should know that Ghanaians have rejected him 3 times because they knew he was voilent and irresponsible man but it's just because of the economic hardship and his consistent plead to Ghanaians to consider him the chance to be president that led to his emergence. Even as it stands now l can tell you that despite Mahama's defeat, Ghanaians still have sympathy for Mahama than you akuffo addo. You are just being put on probation by Ghanaians. Therefore you should know that Ghanaians are going to vote you out to your village now that you, akuffo addo and ken agyapong have started your drug addict behaviour which was the reason why Ghanaians rejected akuffo addo 3 times. In fact it has Confirmed and vindicated Ghanaians for rejecting you 3 times. And for that matter this will reinforce Ghanaians to be resolved to reject you the 4th time to avoid patapaa(akuffo addo) at 88 in the presidency.
IMANI Boss. Do not compare the two issues for now. The issue at stake is Delta Force and let's deal with it as a nation and stop with the broken jaw English. Montie 3 is an old issue not to be rekindled at all. Let's forge ahead and solve the current problem and preempt the reoccurrence of such attacks with impunity.
ALTHOUGH THEIR ATTACK ON THE JUDGE WAS NOT A GOOD MOVE BUT YOU CAN NEVER COMPARE THAT ONE TO MONTIE 3 BASED ON THE FOLLOWING: BENTIL, ANSWER ME, DID THE DELTA FORCE SAY THEY WILL KILL JUDGES? AGAIN, DID THEY SAY THEY WILL RAPE JUDGES? DID THEY SAY THE WILL MARRY JUDGES? WHENEVER THERE IS AN ISSUE, YOU WILL SEE ALL KIND OF PEOPLE SAY ALL SORTS OF THINGS AS IF THEY KNOW EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN.DID THE PRESIDENCY SUPPORT THEM? YOU ARE ONE OF THE TOO KNOWN GUYS.
I remember during the swearing in of the new council of state, the president in his speech said and i quote, " I look forward very much to working with a Council that will offer me straightforward advice, based on unvarnished truth. I look forward to working with a Council that will help all of us deepen our democracy, and I look forward to working with a Council that will help us deliver a prosperous Ghana. SUCH A COUNCIL SHOULD NOT GIVE ADVICE TO A PRESIDENT, THE EFFECT OF WHICH IS TO UNDERMINE THE INDEPENDENCE OF ANY OF THE OTHER ARMS OF GOVERNMENT, ESPECIALLY THE JUDICIARY." My point: Any one does need a prophet or a seer to tell the fate of the apprehended members of this group. My question therefore is , what will Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana do when that time comes. One thing though , i can predict rightly is that, the President, right is in a great state of dilemma. One that may be causing him insomnia. Wow Ghana ay3 d3d33d3
Who is this man? Is he the alpha and omega for Ghana. This man is full of himself and he thinks that when he talks about important issues no one should challenge his submission. Come again my friend.
Ghana should brace itself for more of such attacks. The government is reluctant to clip their wings because they brought them to power. And their now in the limelight so no secret recruitment into the forces with qualifications. BRACE BRACE BRACE YOURSELVES, GHANA.This are early days yet!