Policy think tank

Speaking on Citi FM’s news analysis programme “The Big Issues”, president of IMANI, Franklin Cudjoe, opined it is those who do not have jobs that join vigilante groups.

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According to him, most unemployed youth hide behind political parties to perpetrate heinous crimes because they do not having anything doing.

In his view, the government must take a critical look at creating employment for the youth in the country or incidents of vigilantism may again “rear their ugly heads”.

“…Because of the absence of jobs, they probably would want to be known as vigilante groups. It’s part of a problem we have as a developing country where we have serious challenges with unemployment and I think the root cause is what we should be looking at. In order for these not to rear their ugly heads again, it is important to have a very long-term view on how to deal with these matters,” Mr. Cudjoe said.

“For me, the vigilante issue is one part of a very big conversation we should be having on unemployment in this country.”

He also touched on the recent suspension of the Upper West Regional Minister, Sulemana Alhassan, for covering up for some youth of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) who vandalized the office of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) in the region.

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The Minister reportedly prevented the Police from arresting the perpetrators due to their affiliation to the ruling party.

Mr. Cudjoe believes the suspension was a lenient punishment for the Minister, insisting he should have been dismissed outright.

“Giving his own comment which sought to justify the actions, this obviously does not augur well for any civilized country,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Upper West Regional Police Command has picked up five persons in connection with the attack on the NADMO office in the region.

The suspects are reportedly the masterminds behind the whole attack and have subsequently been remanded in Police custody, as investigations continue.