In the midst of several cacophonies in relation to the spate of political vigilante groups and invisible forces creating all sorts of kerfuffle across the length and breadth of our dear Country, Ghana, it is very relevant for one to expatiate on the contemporary security threat called Political Vigilantism which has become an endemic aspect of our part of the world.

This write-up nests its argument on the Concept of Political vigilantism bringing to bear the underpinnings to Political vigilantism, the case study in our part of the world and intend seeks to offer recommendations for handling this menace. Political vigilantism has indeed become a very chronic crump on Ghana’s security effort and a move that has been described by a lot of people as a two edged sword which comes with some benefits as well as negative consequences but with its negatives outstripping the positive to some extent. 

This is on grounds that, these groups play active roles in enhancing security, particularly in areas where there is institutional failure on the part of Government. On the other flank, they turn to degenerate the security problems to some calculable extent with their violent acts. It should be noted that prior to the Cold war security was centered on the state because conflicts manifested themselves in the form of inter state conflicts. However, the end of the Cold war (ideological war) has been coupled with several intra-state and intra-ethnic conflicts as well as the broad spectrum of security threats which are not state centered but directly linked to the individual.

In the after math of the cold war which saw the fall of the two super powers in the world thus the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic(USSR) referred to as Russia and United State of America (USA), Security has moved from state centric to that which lays emphasis on human which is dubbed as human security. The modern security threats now take the form of diseases, hunger, environmental issues, terrorism, and others. One of such threats is the political vigilantism which this essay would clearly explain.

The etymology of the word Political Vigilantism is traced to the two part Greek and Latin word “Politika” which literally means affairs of the cities and “vigilantem” which literally means watchful, anxious, and careful respectively. The latter was initially employed to refer to a committee organized to suppress and punish crime as in when the processes of the law appears inadequate. The term vigilantism is also associated with the word “vigil” and to be “vigil” means to be in a constant state of alert. Vigilantism would, therefore, denote a phenomenon where groups organise in order to detect dangers. 

Vigilantism is defined as an organized attempt by a group of ordinary citizens to enforce norms and maintain law and order on behalf of their communities, often by resorting to violence, in the perceived absence of effective official state action through the police and courts according to Abraham (2003).Vigilantism is concerned with any group of persons which undertake services of watching, guarding, patrolling or carriage for the purpose of providing protection against crime and other security threats, but does not entail activities of the Police Service, the Prisons Service or the Armed Forces as well as other Government security agencies. In general, if one is referring to vigilante groups then it should be pictured as the local community watch dog groups, the “body guard” for the fortunate few in the society, the “watchmen” as referred to in our local parlance amongst other private bodies that provide security. I want my readers to envisage the people they refer to as “bouncers” in the club as vigilante groups. 

The young guys who bodyguard Sarkodie, m.anifest, shatta wale, stonebwoy and your favorite artiste around are all part of vigilante groups. It entails night and day guards who act as popular panacea to theft and armed robbery in various homes, offices, Banks, Clubs, schools, and churches to mention a few. Thus, all private bodies which are outsourced to provide security aside prisons, immigration service, police service, navy, Armed Forces, the National Fire Service, the Customs Division of the Revenue Authority and other state owned security agencies should be viewed as vigilante groups. Again, by definition vigilantism can be seen as an activity that is performed by social groups that attempt to improve the security of their communities, individuals and so on. Increasingly, human Security has become one of the many services being privatized as a result of the system and institutional failure. Vigilantism is now viewed as the best alternative for responding to the state’s professed inability or unwillingness to enforce the security laws of a country. That is individuals as well as groups who feel there is the lack of protection, justice, and safety from the proficient authorities of the state resort to such vigilante groups for the best of security.

Political vigilantism may be defined as an instance where organized armed or unarmed groups are deployed as private armed forces to safeguard the electoral prosperity of political parties. Political vigilantism may be defined as the act of coming out with a private security outfit for the exclusive protection of political parties. The term Political vigilantism may also be used to refer to individuals or groups usually youth groups, who are recruited and hired as affiliates or members of a political party for security purposes. It should be noted that most of such groups are often informal in nature as such they might be known by few party Executives. These individuals usually have biological and physical features that enable them to undertake such security functions. According to Prempeh (2012), there is an alarming proliferation of political party foot soldiers thus activists who offer unquestioning in-kind support to the parties and their candidates during election season and, in turn, extort private payoffs in return for their continued loyalty. The key functions of such political vigilante groups include canvassing for votes and safeguarding the political parties as well as their office holders. These political vigilante groups are made up of the mass unemployed youth usually muscular in nature (macho men) either armed or unarmed who are directly and or affiliated to the two major political parties in Ghana thus the New Patriotic Party(NPP) and the National Democratic Congress(NDC) and are somewhat perceived to attain notoriety in the political sphere. In Ghana, there are a lot of such political vigilante groups with very amusing names some of which include Bamba Boys, Gbewaa Youth, Kandahar Boys, Aluta Boys,Nima Boys, Salifu Eleven, Zongo Caucus, Veranda Boys, Supreme, Mahama Boys, Basuka Boys, Badariba, Basuka Boys,Bindiriba, Azorka Boys, Invincible Forces, Bolga Bulldogs,Tohazie,Sese groups, Rasta Boys, Bukurisung, pentagon, Gbewaa youth, 66 bench,Al Quaeda,Al jazeera,NATO forces, Nana Addo fun club,Bugri Nabu fun club,John Mahama fun club and Delta force to mention a few. The emergence of such Vigilante groups can be traced to diverse sources.

First and foremost, it is indisputable that the security Agencies in Ghana to some extent are discharging their roles professionally nonetheless when it comes to election security; they seem bungling and unenthusiastic to a lesser extent in dealing with vigilante groups whose actions disturb the electoral process. Electoral violence in Ghana happens prior to the election, during, and after the elections but usually takes the form of blip and clashes in few cases though our elections is generally described as free and fair. There is however the need for intensifying security before, during and after elections. According to the structural theory of conflict which is concerned with the fact that conflict stems from aggregate of factors such as how the society is structured, economic exclusions, injustice and dormination of one class by the other as well as institutional failure. The quest for security and mistrust for Government Security agencies necessitates employing sub-state security actors known as political vigilante groups per the structural theory. Most political figures have expressed their dissatisfaction in the Government Security apparatus whiles pointing a looming bomb that the Government Security system cannot act in their political interest. There are instances where the opposition has raised the concern that the Police services usually have a hand in assisting the incumbent in stealing ballot boxes. It is justifiable on grounds that if police at a polling station fully armed could watch a muscular man (macho man) snatch ballot boxes with casted ballot papers then they can be accused of being behind the mask. There are instances where people apprehended for snatching ballot boxes and engaging in all sorts of electoral violence are freed by the police as a result of their association with particular political party. The popular Political vigilante group Delta Force of the NPP for instance was basically formed with the idea of ensuring that Ballot Boxes would not be snatched during the 2016 election although they have been in the news for some bad post electoral violence. The actions of the Delta force of course yielded some success as they contributed to the win of then presidential candidate Nana AKuffo Addo now President of Ghana. Also, if a flag bearer of an opposition party can be stoned in a stronghold of an incumbent Government during an election Campaign then the idea of political vigilante group is justifiable to some extent.

Worryingly, as stated by Ghana Web in 2010, there is some element of skewedness of appointments in military institutions, the judiciary, and other public institutions in favour of particular ethnic identities, based on which political party is in Government. According to the Psycho cultural theory of conflict, Conflicts which results from ethnic and cultural identities are very difficult to deal with since they end up becoming protracted social conflicts a term which was first used by Edward Azar. 

The nepotism and favoritism in such appointments of individuals to the portfolios of the various Government security agencies causes the general public to view them as a political wing of incumbent Government. The security agencies are alleged to be used as means of rewarding party faithful who contributed earnestly in bringing a party to power by employing them in the police, military, immigration amongst others. In brief, the mistrust and failure of Government Security Agencies in Ghana calls for such Political Vigilante groups.

In furtherance, Violence and the formation of such vigilante groups can be attributed to the widespread of Unemployed Youth. According to the economic theory of conflict, conflict entrepreneurs usually employ the poor and unemployed youth in fuming conflictual flames. In this instance political parties employ such groups to either create chaos during, before and after elections or in ensuring the provision of their private security. Another economic factor is that, most of these unemployed youth (Active labour force) might want to belong to such vigilante groups since they see it as an avenue of soliciting for money from the politicians. In the same vein, per the human needs theory as posited by its key proponents such as Abraham Maslow and Edward Azar denial of an individual of certain basic needs is non-negotiable, as such unemployed youth are likely to belong to vigilante groups and engage in all sorts of electoral violence. It has been revealed through studies that there is a direct linkage between unemployment, poverty and such political vigilante groups. For instance, in Ghana it has been established that areas with the high level of unemployment particularly the northern part of country which falls within the poverty zone in Ghana have become host areas for vigilante groups. There is ample evidence to back this claim and depict that some areas in the northern part of Ghana have become places that provide facilities for such vigilante groups. For example studies reveal that Bolga bulldogs are pre-dominantly in Bawku central and Navrongo central. Azorka Boys,Tohazie,Bukurisung, Pentagon,Gbewaa Youth,66 bench, Al Quaeda, NATO Forces, Kandahar Boys, Nana Addo fun club are in Gushegu, Chereponi, Yendi, Wulensi and Tamale Central in northern region of Ghana. One can also make reference to Rasta Boys, SeSe Boys and invisible forces residing in odododiodio, Ablekuma Central and Ashaiman which falls within the purview of the poverty zone in Ghana as well.

Another fact worth noticing is that the alarming rate at which intra-party (group) and inter-party (group) conflicts occur ahead of general elections and whenever the need be for people to be voted to some positions within the party, requires flag bearers and Executives of political parties to intensify their security. This can be explained using the systemic theory of conflict which focuses on the effects of large scale political process changes which has the potential of creating instability resulting in conflict. There are several internal wrangling within various political parties which is often showcased during their primaries. There are situations where people are shot, murdered and frustrated by others during primaries. For example the birth of political vigilantism in the northern part of Ghana and southern part of the country, Eastern region specifically can be traced to some Political internal conflicts that have occurred over the years during primaries. Some of which include that of Chereponi Constituency, Talensi Constituency, Atiwa Constituency, Akwatia Constituency as well the popular primaries of the New Patriotic Party which took place in Suhum Kraboa Coaltar District now a municipality. The Primaries which was held between Frederick Opare Ansah and Bryan Acheampong was met with shootings,beatings and other forms of violence amongst card bearing party members of the NPP in that area. There are instances where people are shot or injured during by-elections and all sorts of escalating violence amongst parties usually between the NPP and NDC.In the same vein, during campaigning seasons and congress held by the political parties there are mass atrocities which call for an intensified security beyond that which would be provided by the state. It is in line with this that the two major Political parties in Ghana are all making use of these political vigilante groups.

In essence, per the social labeling theory of the sociologist most of the Government Security agencies have been labeled by the Society as corrupt the more reason why they have lost the trust of the Ghanaian People. This is true on grounds that if Police Officers are always in the news for collecting One Ghana Cedis then they cannot be trusted for security and safeguarding Politicians. Corruption which has become a major canker on the part of most Public Officials makes it not so cool to entrust the life of political figures in the hands of such Public security Officers. Hitherto, the Police service and other agencies are described as Corrupt by the same civilians who pay bribes to these public Officials. It is however keen to bring to full glare that till the general public stop offering bribes to such officials and till such officials cease collecting bribes it would be very difficult to place even an element of mustard seed of faith in them. This has been identified as one reason why political parties now fall on such well built Young men who can be trusted in offering tireless and heroic sacrifices to provide them with unsurpassed security.

To add to this, it can be deduced from the structures and constituents of these vigilante groups that they have a high tendency to come out with several violent acts as noted by the early warning signs from the invisible forces of the New patriotic Party as well as the Delta Force. Following the triumphant entry of President Akuffo Addo into the flagstaff house as President of Ghana some invisible skeletal homo sapiens are said to rampage, torture and hurt others believed to be extremists of the NDC as part of their celebrations. The switching of political power from one party to the other through the exercise of franchise is always accompanied by such violent incidence. People see change of Government as pay back time which is made possible as a result of the “winner takes all” system. The case was not different when the National Democratic Congress Party won in 2008 as Azorka Boys and other invisible forces of the party took over some public offices, including public toilets looted and beat up some individuals perceived to belong to the New Patriotic Party. A lot of Political analysts, scholars and authors have likened such groups to Terrorist groups due to the devastations they sometimes pose. However, I would want to accentuate that the way forward as a country is not by trumpeting about this social menace on BBC, Al jazeera and CNN.The solution does not lie in political leaders just paying lip service to this security threat but it is about walking the talk. It is high time we desisted from politicizing some of such issues and the act of exhibiting some of such dirty under wears of mother Ghana to other parts of the world. We as Ghanaians ought to see it as a clarion call to strategize means that would provide a holistic approach of dealing with the root causes of these violent acts on the part of such vigilante groups rather than the opposition beating the gong on it just to score cheap political points. The above statement points accusing guns at both the NDC and the NPP who are the two key political parties in our part of the world.

As a matter of relevance, I humbly suggest that Government put measures in place to bring on board all relevant Stakeholders in providing employment to the mass unemployed Graduates in the Country. It is gradually becoming a norm that after National Service most Graduates end up becoming black sheeps of their families and the hub of knowledge acquired becomes tattered. A situation some Governments have attributed to Programmes they describe as non marketable read by these Students meanwhile in reality it is as a result of system failure. It is not for the fun of it, but if and only the two major political parties could solemnly ponder they would here the soft voice of young and energetic graduates from the polytechnics (Technical Universities), Universities and other Tertiary institutions seeking for jobs. Government should note that it is expected under the Social Contract to take taxes from the people and in turn offer them with employment amongst other needs.That notwithstanding, if the Government cannot do this all alone then there should be a catalyst approach aimed at supporting the private sector to make jobs available for the Youth. The Youth should no longer be unemployed under a President’s tenure of office only to be used by the Political class to perpetuate violence before, during and after elections every four years just for meager sums of money. The time is now or never to make our institutions work in providing jobs for these young people. I am optimistic that if the Youth are employed they would not be motivated to neither perpetuate violence nor allow themselves to be used for such chaotic acts. The provision of employment to the Youth would enable them transform their energies to productive usage. Government should be driven by passion to come out with conscious efforts of dealing with graduate and Youth unemployment. Again, there should also be poverty alleviating strategies such as the investment in local industries to make jobs readily available for the youth. We cannot wait to adore the one district one factory promise which still taste like fresh palm wine on our tongues.

Finally, a lot of Security experts are calling for the total disband of these groups but I am of the belief that since these vigilante groups are necessary evil in our society, if possible they should be fully registered by the Ghana security services and be fully trained by them. They should also be given some rules and regulations concerning their operations so as to streamline their activities. I am hopeful that if all these numerous political vigilante groups are registered the police can fully monitor their actions.The police would also be able to easily identify the violent ones and arrest them whenever the need arises. As of now that these groups are not registered it is very difficult to identify them even if violence takes place this is because most of them are covert and informal.

The onus is also on all religious leaders in the country to use their platforms in educating the Youth to avoid being used as vessels for immortalizing violence. I am of the belief that if the Imam and our pastors as well as other religious leaders would effectively crusade about the need to desist from such lawlessness on the part of the Youth we shall overcome some day. The pulpit should be effectively utilized in inculcating moral values in the youth and should not always be about miracles and “I receive it”. The Government should fully equip the Police Service and other Government Security agencies to be able to effectively combat these violent political vigilante groups. It has been opined that some of such groups are usually characterized with the proliferation of small arms and light weapons as such in order for the police to be able to deal with them they should be properly armed as well.

To add to this, the same manner the President Akuffo Addo Government has placed his presidency on the fence in the fight against galamsey should be encouraged by the president when it comes to issues relating to this invisible forces and political vigilante groups. The New Patriotic Party has issued several statements calling for the arrest of such violent party faithful which is laudable however one would suggest the need to go beyond this to include identifying and shaming party leaders who support and fund such violent groups and appropriate sanctions given to the youth caught in such acts by the police. The two major political parties should overtly go to a table and sniff out the problem of political vigilantism rather than hiding behind the mask to patronize these political vigilante groups.I have the urge that if these two political parties would educate their youth on the consequences of their actions to the party as a whole it would help avert them from engaging in such violent acts.I pray the National Democratic Congress Party would use their newly opened school to sensitize its student on such security threats. I would humbly plead that if possible our legislation should be amended so as to wipe off “the winner takes all” kind of Governance to give room for “all inclusive” Governance. 

The Government of the day has started by giving positions such as ambassador at large to PNDC’s Edward Nasiguri Mahama which is in the right direction though it has received criticisms by several political analysts .Also, recently the former President Jerry John Rawlings has been given the position as an Ambassador in charge of sanitation within the city of Accra which is also commendable. I am looking forward that gradually we would be able defeat this outmoded system of winner takes all to the path of an all inclusive system of Governance as this would go a long way in dealing with some of such violence.

God bless our Homeland Ghana. Thank you.