The Deputy Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Ketu North, Mr. James Klutse Avedzi, has indicated that the Vigilantism and Related Offences Bill, 2019 should be renamed as ‘The Militias’ Bill, 2019.
Mr. Klutse Avedzi stated that the objective of the Bill and its description cannot be situated in the context of a Vigilantism Bill.
The Deputy Minority Leader pointed out that Vigilantes are individuals who ensure that laws are effectively enforced but do not have the legal backing.
Speaking to ghanajustice.com, Mr. Klutse Avedzi averred that groups of people cited for political violence and other related offences are rather going against laws in the country.
The Ketu North MP reiterated that the Special Prosecutor, Mr. Martin Amidu, some years ago, was hitting on some infractions of the activities of the previous government, and his criticisms to put the government on its toes can be referred to as vigilantism.
”The criticisms by Martin Amidu and his write ups on corruption and corruption related cases, to change certain things in the system can be termed as vigilantism. That is why he was called Citizen Vigilante. His idea was to enforce the laws and not to go against the laws”, Mr. Klutse Avedzi added.
The Vigilantism and Related Offences Bill, 2019 was presented to Parliament on April 10, 2019 and laid at the Plenary on April 12, 2019, by the Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Miss Gloria Akuffo.
The Bill was laid under a Certificate of Urgency as stated in the Explanatory Memorandum attached to the Vigilantism Bill.
However, the House declined in passing the Bill before going on recess due to objections raised by some Members of Parliament on broader stakeholders’ consultations with Civil Society Organisations and the various political parties.
Source: GhanaJustice/S.Ayisi
