The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is sceptical over the success of the dialogue between the NDC, New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Peace Council aimed at finding ways to end political vigilantism in the country.
This follows the postponement of the adoption of a roadmap drawn by the Peace Council to help end the canker.
Both parties have been given two weeks to draft the document and make their recommendations for onward adoption.
The NDC is, however, alleging that they were not involved in the preparation of the draft roadmap.
Addressing the press after the fourth session of the dialogue series, General Secretary of the NDC, Asiedu Nketia, said excerpts of the roadmap vindicate the NDC’s position on the dialogue.
“This is a big problem which needs the engagement of all stakeholders who have a role to play in eliminating vigilantism. Two political parties alone cannot eliminate vigilantism. It needs everybody on board. So if we are able to determine if it is the work of the police which hasn’t gone down well that is why the canker is not being addressed, then the police leadership needs to commit to doing their work better. That is how you draw a roadmap for implementation. How can we be sitting down here and be drawing roadmaps for issues that we don’t have control over.”
“If the NPP side raises an issue and there are recommendations to the president, then they are recommendations because we can’t direct the President. How then can we develop a road map for the issues that we have determined. We seem to be dancing around the problem without any solution. So we are saying that, the President can not ask us to help him do his work and then he will be withholding the materials we need for the work from us,” he fumed.
Road map after four weeks?
About a month ago, the National Peace Council said the two main political parties have agreed to allow the council to develop a roadmap to help stop the activities of political vigilante groups in the country.
It said the two sides were supposed to make input into the roadmap.
The Peace Council is currently spearheading the mediation process between the two factions to table a number of proposals and modalities for disbanding vigilante groups.
After initial hitches between the two, the council met the NPP and NDC in three meetings already
Meanwhile, legislation which has been prepared by the Attorney General upon the instruction of the President has also been laid in parliament for consideration.
