A security analyst, has warned Ghanaians not to ignore events leading to civil unrests in countries such as Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire, as the nation approaches the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
Col. Festus Boahen Aboagye (Rtd), who is currently a teaching consultant at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC), suggested Ghana was not immune from the civil wars in those countries leading to deaths, displacements and the loss of properties.
The former UNDP Consultant, issued the warning after a video showing at a machete-wielding machoman near a ballot box at a polling station went viral.
Checks have revealed the place to be the Asante Akyem South Constituency, and the event to be the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Parliamentary primaries last Saturday.
Distressed at the sight of the machoman at the polling center with a sharp machete, the ex-Military officer, took to his Facebook page yesterday with pictures he had made from the video footage asking “Political vigilantism in 21st Century Ghana: a machete-wielding vigilante at a ballot station?
The security expert charged “If you know the person who said “what happened in Côte d’Ivoire cannot happen in Ghana” or words to that effect, ask him/her to educate himself/herself on the history of countries like Liberia and Rwanda, besides Côte d’Ivoire”.
“This footage is a good example of the narratives of civil wars in those countries, adding “They all happened when the states acquiesced to non-state, rogue elements or were complicit in the extra-state use of violence for parochial political ends”.
The Chairman of the National Peace Council, Most Reverend Prof. Emmanuel Asante, Prof. Kwesi Anin a Director of Research at KAIPTC and Paul Kwabena Aborampa a Senior Programme Officer at CDD-Ghana, had unanimously condemned the act and called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the machoman with the machete.
The three men were speaking on PM Express show on Joy News TV hosted by Evans Mensah on Wednesday.
It was on the topic “Election 2020 and Vigilantism: Assessing the Peace Council’s Comprehensive Roadmap”.
When asked for clarification, Col Aboagye condemned the act and questioned the role of the police at the event.
He is also called for the arrest of the machoman after wondering whether there was no Election Management Security Team in place?
One of his followers Armand-Pascal Mboumba commented “You are absolutely right my brother Festus! These are worrying signs for democracy and peace for a stable state like Ghana. Politicians must take responsibility to stop this immediately.
