Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has squashed claims that the party makes use of vigilantes in elections.
According to him, the NDC does not believe in the use of vigilantes during elections, rather, their believe is that every community should have the capability to guard the ballot after voting.
John Dramani while paying a courtesy call on the Avenor Traditional Council in the Volta Region Tuesday, August 18, 2020, declared that “In NDC we don’t believe in the use of vigilantes. We believe that the community should be able to police their own ballots because the ballot is their voice. So it is the duty of the community to make sure that ballot counts. So you don’t need vigilantes. So we leave the ballot boxes in your hands. We are not going to bring in vigilantes to protect the ballot box.”
He therefore called on all, especially traditional rulers in the region to call out the New Patriotic Party for their ‘habitual’ use of vigilantes to cause havoc in the country.
“We know those who use vigilantes in this country, we know those who have the Invisible forces, Delta forces, Bolga bulldogs and the likes. We know those who caused violence in Ayawaso West Wuogon and shot people. We know them. So often we take the advice as political parties but I think traditional leaders too should from time to time, call out those persons causing the havoc so that they know they are the ones you are talking about.”
Over the years, the two major political parties in the country, the NPP and the NDC have been causing confusion on election grounds with the use of vigilante men.
The situation turns nasty when these armed men unleash mayhem on their counterpart.
After the Ayawaso West Wuogon case, several bodies have condemned the wo parties for making use of vigilante men as well as ordered them to disband them.