Political groupings in the country have welcomed a call by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) to disband party vigilante groups. The call to disband groups such as the Azorka and Bamba Boys was contained in a communiqué issued by stakeholders including the Electoral Commission (EC), the police and civil society at the end of a seminar on the 2012 polls. The seminar organized by the IEA, tasked political parties not to exploit the media and unemployed youths to foment trouble in the country. Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem on Monday, a leading member of the Azorka Boys associated with the ruling NDC, Alhaji Osman Musa said the group was formed to win and retain power for the party and stressed that it is not a violent group but a peaceful one which aims at helping the fortunes of the NDC. He also stressed that even if the Azorka Boys are disbanded, there are other youth groups in the NDC which cannot be dissolved easily because they are working around the clock to ensure the party retains power. On his part, the National Organizer of the opposition NPP, Alhaji Moctar Bamba, the founder of the Bamba Boys in the NPP, said the group was formed in 1996 to help his campaign as a Parliamentary candidate for Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo region, adding it has been re-ignited to help the fortunes of the NPP in the December 2012 polls. Alhaji Bamba said he is a law abiding and patriotic citizen and will not use the Bamba Boys to engage in acts of violence. He alleged that since the formation of the Azorka Boys, they have been engaging in acts of violence, including molesting their own party members at an NDC congress held in Koforidua in the Eastern Region in 2005. “If the vigilante groups should be disbanded, then I expect transparency in all elections, they should not say one thing and do another thing,” Alhaji Bamba stressed.