Chairman of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Ben Abdallah Banda, has hinted that the new Vigilante Bill will not deal with the recent Ayawaso West Wogon by-election violence.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), through a petition to parliament, had wanted to have the bill applied to altercations that took place during the by-election.
The Offinso South MP said some of the concerns raised by the NDC have been taken on board, and are being examined and at the appropriate time, the board will speak to them.
Speaking on 3FM Sunrise morning show, Mr. Banda noted that there are still discussions ongoing on how to produce a holistic bill that tackles all issues of vigilantism in the country.
He said the bill is to guide issues of vigilantism going forward, and that old occurrences will not be covered by the bill.
“To the best of my knowledge and understanding, this bill is not dealing with matters that happened before the introduction of the bill to parliament. This bill is going to be forward looking and progressive.
“It appears a lot of people are interested in the Vigilantism Bill. Let’s follow the proceedings in Parliament,” he said.
According to him, it is laughable that the NDC would assume the bill was to further the agenda of President Nana Akufo-Addo.
His comment comes on the back of allegations by the NDC that the NPP is seeking to fuel activities of its vigilante groups with the bill.
“I don’t understand the basis of saying that the NPP government is hiding under the vigilantism bill to as it were protect and further its interest.”
“The bill hasn’t been passed into a law yet and parliament is constituted by members of two main political parties. Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee is made up of members of two main political parties.
“I am the Chairman and the Ranking member is from the other side. At the committee level, there is a consensus that vigilantism is a problem. Except that the bill has to be relooked at” he explained.
By Paul Agbo Selorm|3news.com|Ghana