Life StyleNews

NPP formally invites NDC to dialogue on disbanding vigilantes

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has officially written to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to invite it to a meeting to dialogue on disbanding vigilante groups associated with both parties.

A letter sighted by citinewsroom.com from the NPP’s General Secretary, John Boadu to the National Chairman of the NDC said, the invitation has not “only been necessitated by the President’s call during the 2019 State of the Nation Address, but also the legitimate concerns expressed by overwhelming Ghanaians about this menace and the need for the two political parties to do the needful in the interest of the nation.’

According to John Boadu, although the NPP’s Freddie Blay has been engaging the NDC’s Ofosu Ampofo on phone and made agreements in principle concerning the meeting,  but the NPP believes that the time is due for the agreement to be actualized.

He said the party proposes that the meeting be held within this week.

He added that with regards to requests by the NDC to have other stakeholders including the peace council invited to the meeting, the NPP does not object to it and looks forward to an earlier engagement that will allow the two parties decide on which stakeholders to invite to the dialogue.

On the venue for the meeting, the NPP said the NDC should decide where the meeting should be held and communicate that decision to the NPP.

It has been about three week since President Akufo-Addo during his State of the Nation Address, called on the two political parties to engage on disbanding their vigilante groups due to the spate of violence attributed to these groups but that meeting is yet to be held.

NDC in a letter to the President asked that the meeting be mediated by the National Peace Council among other groups.

But the President dismissed some of the arguments raised by the NDC in their letter.

President Akufo-Addo again in the delivery of his speech during the country’s 62ndIndependence Day parade in Tamale called on the two parties to meet and expressed hope that the meeting will yield positive results.

Some Ghanaians have already suggested that the political parties are only paying lip service to the agreement and making no active effort to disband party vigilantes that owe allegiance to them.

Both parties have debunked the claims.

With the letter from the NPP, it is expected that the much-anticipated meeting will soon be held a clear roadmap given on how the aim can be achieved.

 

Source: Citinewsroom

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Close