Think-tank Election Watch Ghana (EWG) has petitioned the National Security Coordinator to, among others, take swift legal and administrative action to disband a group calling itself Lions of NPP.
The civil society organisation insists that the formation and launch of the security-vigilante group is a breach of Act 999.
It said it is more worrying that the group was formed in the Upper East Region, which is plagued with security concerns “due to its border proximity and exposure to cross-border terrorism and violent extremism”.
“The presence of an unauthorized, partisan security force in this region poses a clear and present danger to public order, state authority, and national stability,” EWG said in its petition to the National Security Coordinator.
The vigilante group is said to have been launched by one Adure Anthony, who claims to be a branch executive of the leading opposition party, New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“The formation, training, and deployment of ‘The Lions of NPP’ constitute a direct breach of the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act, 2019 (Act 999), which expressly prohibits political parties from organizing, funding, or maintaining security-vigilante groups,” EWG pointed out in its petition.
Aside the call for the group’s disbandment, EWG also wants a thorough investigations conducted into the intention of its formation.
“Launch a thorough inquiry into the formation, funding, leadership, training, and operational mandate of ‘The Lions of NPP’ to establish breaches of Act 999,” it prayed the National Security Coordinator.
It also wants the Coordinator to “ensure that all security operations in the Upper East Region remain exclusively within the mandate of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Armed Forces, and other constitutionally recognized state agencies, free from partisan influence”.