{"id":598454,"date":"2019-03-12T17:08:07","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"

President Akufo-Addo promised to initiate legislation to disband party militia if dialogue fails<\/p>

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The Member of Parliament for Builsa North has downplayed Akufo-Addo\u2019s intention to initiate legislation on party militia if dialogue fails.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a discussion\u00a0on the AM Show on the Joy News channel, Tuesday, James Agalga\u2019s argued that President Nana Akufo-Addo will be in\u00a0a fix\u00a0since he does not want to\u00a0open\u00a0party militia meeting to wider participation.<\/span><\/p>\n

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His\u00a0argument is based on the trade of letter between his party, the opposition NDC, and the President.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his third State of the Nation Address, President Akufo-Addo directed the two main political parties in the country; the NPP and\u00a0NDC to meet and dialogue on disbanding the militia groups affiliated to their party.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Agalga
Agalga appeared on the AM Show on\u00a0 Tuesday<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026if voluntary disbandment by the parties is not feasible, I would initiate legislation into the matter,\u201d Akufo-Addo said to loud applause.<\/span><\/p>\n

But more than two weeks after that, the meeting hasn\u2019t taken place. <\/span><\/p>\n

While the NDC wants the Peace Council, civil society and the media and possibly international peace bodies to be part of the process, the President is adamant.<\/span><\/p>\n

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He replied the NDC National Chairman\u2019s letter describing the request to include the other players as\u00a0lacking basis.<\/span><\/p>\n

The President reiterated his stance in his Independence Day speech on March 6. <\/span><\/p>\n

He\u00a0said both parties have garnered about 95 per cent\u00a0of the votes cast since the beginning of the 4th Republic and can solve the matter by themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Some have argued that the President may take credit from getting legislation passed on the matter if the dialogue fails.<\/span><\/p>\n

But James Agalga finds that interesting.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his\u00a0argument,\u00a0he stated that going the path of legislation will bring Akufo-Addo back to consulting other stakeholders; which is what he is already not agreeing to.<\/span><\/p>\n

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He explained that legislation cannot be passed without Parliament consulting the relevant stakeholders and in this case, the Peace Council would be consulted should Akufo-Addo decide to get legislation passed.<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that the legislation is not needed at all. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we need is the political will to deal with this matter once and for all,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

On his part, Majority MP, Ato Panford who was also on the show, disagreed with his colleague. <\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Shama MP, if the NDC would agree to dialogue with the NPP alone, there would be no need to include others. <\/span><\/p>\n

He agreed that the legislation would need the input of stakeholders but said there would be no need for that level if the dialogue between NPP and NDC succeed.<\/span><\/p>\n