President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged the leadership of the two main leading political parties – National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) – to collaborate to bring an end to the widely condemned incidents of what has become known as political vigilantism in Ghana.

According to the president, citizens and future generations would not forgive the current leaders, if they sit aloof for the country’s peace to be undermined by politically related violence.

READ MORE: EC urges political parties to do away with vigilantism 

“The time has come to put an end to the phenomenon of politically-related violence. The only way in our system to begin to deal with such a situation is through the work of a Commission of Inquiry. Thankfully, I got four responsible Ghanaians of independent spirit, who agreed to serve on the Commission. I hope the findings and recommendations of the Emile Short Commission will enable us chart a path to ending politically-related violence in our country,” he averred.

The President further stated: “The events of last Monday, in Kumasi, where a meeting of the national and regional executives of the opposition National Democratic Congress was broken up by acts of violence, leading to the tragic death of a citizen, have reinforced the urgent need for us to find that path. I want to use the platform of this Message to make a sincere, passionate appeal to the leaders of the two main political parties in our country, NPP and NDC, to come together, as soon as possible, preferably next week, to agree on appropriate measures to bring an end to this worrying and unacceptable phenomenon of vigilantism in our body politic.”

He indicated that he had asked the leadership of his part (NPP) to “…extend an invitation to the leadership of the NDC for such a meeting. The security services of the country will be on standby to assist this meeting.”

He however cautioned that if voluntary disbandment of the political militia groups by the parties proves futile, then he will “initiate legislation on the matter.”

Click for the Full Statement of the 2019 State of the Nation Address