{"id":593272,"date":"2019-02-21T14:46:14","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T14:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"
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President Nana Akufo-Addo has rallied political leadership of the two main political parties to en"},"modified":"2019-02-21T14:46:14","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T14:46:14","slug":"meet-next-week-over-party-militia-akufo-addo-rallies-npp-ndc-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/02\/21\/meet-next-week-over-party-militia-akufo-addo-rallies-npp-ndc-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet next week over party militia – Akufo-Addo rallies NPP, NDC leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

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President Nana Akufo-Addo has rallied political leadership of the two main political parties to end the menace of party militias as citizens grow apprehensive ahead of 2020 elections. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking at his third State of the Nation Address in Parliament, the President urged a meeting between the governing New Patriotic Party and the opposition National Democratic Congress.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He preferred the meeting next week where the two parties will \u201cagree on appropriate measures to the worrying and unacceptable phenomenon.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The President could not be wrong about the worrying activities of party militia following the first recorded death in 2019 linked to their activities.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The NDC\u2019s militia, \u201cThe Hawks,\u201d\u00a0allegedly shot dead a party activist in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi, while a party meeting was ongoing.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Political violence which marred an otherwise routine by-election in the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency in the Greater Accra region is believed to have undertones of militia\u2019s handiwork.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

These two episodes of political-sponsored violence has seen the government under intense pressure to clamp down on the nefarious works of party militias.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In response, the President revealed that\u00a0his first instinct was to let the police investigate. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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But with the police battling complicity in addressing the menace and wide scepticism surrounding their capacity to do so, the President explained he opted for a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the Ayawaso West Wuogon violence.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Read more: By-election violence: Masked security men came to check party militia \u2013\u00a0National Security<\/b><\/p>\n

The Commission is in its second week of its televised hearings in Accra. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The President praised his choice of Commissioners as independent,\u00a0spirited Ghanaians and hyped the inquiry as \u201cthe only way\u201d to comprehensively tackle the canker.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe time has come to put an end to political violence in our system,\u201d\u00a0he intoned amidst wide applause in the chamber.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But stepping up his proposals to address the violence, the President wants a bi-partisan approach. \u201cThe security services of the country will be on standby to assist this meeting\u201d, he said.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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