One is at pains to comprehend the rampage of terrorism visited upon government officials and other civil servants since 2009 by so called foot soldiers of the ruling NDC government. This phenomenon of “democratic terrorism” unleashed by some of the youth of the NDC party calling themselves foot Soldiers must be checked and checked fast. While there may be some genuineness in the grievances they hold against some people in authority, there can be no excuse or justification what so ever in their unruly behaviour towards authority. These thugs cannot be allowed to go around visiting terror on government officials and other civil servants, by subjecting them to beatings, seizure of their cars, locking up of their offices, etc. The NDC party functionaries and the law enforcement agencies know these criminal thugs who go about causing mayhem and crimes all over the country and nothing is being done to bring them to book or order. The vast majority of the youth in the NDC party and in the country all over are cultured, decent, well behaved and law abiding citizens, yet, a small number of NDC youth in pockets of the country are allowed almost on a daily basis to break the law with impunity, thereby bringing shame to our hard earn reputation internationally and making mockery of our laws and those agencies or institutions that are supposed to enforce these laws.

It is depressing and most at times outrageous for those of us outside the country, to hear on the radio stations and or read from the electronic media, the constant lawlessness of some of the NDC youth in the country. These ignorant good for nothing thugs must be told that the NDC is now a party in government, elected to carry out the business of the party of serving all Ghanaians, irrespective of one’s political affiliation; and therefore their criminal behaviour of terrorising government officials and other civil servants appointed to serve the whole of the country and not NDC is unacceptable. It is important and also common sense (even though common sense is not common to these thugs) to note with emphasis that every Ghanaian is a foot soldier of the government of the day irrespective of the party in government. So for some of the NDC youth to think they are more of Ghanaians than others by virtue of their party in power is preposterous and ill-informed

Surely, one ought to place the blame squarely where it should be, at the door steps of the unruly and criminal thugs of the NDC. However, the NDC as a governing party cannot escape part of the blame of its so called foot soldiers. The apparent inability or inaction of the NDC to ruin in its tiny but vociferous unruly foot soldiers is an indictment on the leadership of the party and this could manifestly have a catastrophic effective of derailing the all inclusive agenda of President Mills.

The softly, softly approach so far adopted by NDC functionaries and government officials in dealing appropriately with the so called foot soldiers is tantamount to giving in to criminality or what some people would rightly or wrongly call “democratic terrorism”. The law enforcement institutions should be allowed to carry out their duties without undue interferences from the government or functionaries of the NDC. The NDC government must be firm and seen to deal ruthlessly with any person whether a party supporter or not, who takes the law into their hands. Lamenting and doing nothing about the criminality of a few foot soldiers in the current democratic dispensation in the country cannot be right The NDC as party in government must search its soul and legitimately provide Ghanaians with the answer(s) to the question whether or not their foot soldiers are “foot terrorists”.

David Atugiya

The author is a Human Rights and Social Justice Campaigner, Finance and Management Consultant; Specialist in NGO and Millennium Awards Fellow.