Election 2020: NCCE intensifies education on Vigilantism Act in hot spots

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has intensified education on the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act in some hot spots across the country in the lead-up to the 7 December presidential and parliamentary elections.

Lucille Hewlett Annan, the Greater Accra regional director of the NCCE, disclosed this in an interview with Kojo Mensah on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday.

She said one of the areas earmarked for sensitisation is Odododiodoo in Accra, which witnessed clashes between supporters of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) over the weekend.

“We have been going around educating people on the Vigilantism Act. Together with the National Peace Council, we have gone round some of the districts and we have been planning to go to Odododiodoo,” Annan said.

The Ghana Police Service’s latest assessments of flashpoints in the country show that Odododiodoo alone is home to 50 hot spots as the 7 December election approaches.

Engagement in hot spots

The regional director of the NCCE said that the Commission has already covered certain hot spots in the Greater Accra Region to sensitise stakeholders on the Vigilantism Act.

‘‘We have gone to Ashaiman, Tema, Amasaman, Ada to educate the stakeholders on the existence of the Vigilantism Act and the content of it, because a lot of people know that the law has been passed, but as to the content of it, they do not know,’’ she said.

‘‘So, we engage the political parties, especially the youth, so that they will in turn educate their members on the existence and content of the act – for them to know that if somebody employs you or sponsors you to go and commit an offence by shooting, pouring acid on anybody or stealing ballot boxes, you are going to be sent to jail,’’ the NCCE official said.

About the Vigilantism Act

The vigilantism law, which was passed last year, bans act of vigilantism in Ghana and disbands vigilante groups, including political party vigilante groups and land guards.

It states that a person who, directly or indirectly, instigates or solicits the activity of a vigilante, facilitates or encourages vigilantism, or conceals a vigilante to avoid lawful arrest, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment of not less than ten years and not more than 15 years.

Fred Dzakpata

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