Abstract:
Ghana is gradually building a political culture that seems to support political
vigilantism; the activities of vigilante groups have assumed a cyclonic nature.
This study, therefore, seeks to assess the threat of political vigilantism to
political security in Ghana and the roles of state and non-state actors in all of
this. It explores the sources and the motivations for acts of political
vigilantism. It addresses the threat of political vigilantism to political security
in Ghana. It also analyses the implications of political vigilantism on security
issues and Ghana‟s global image. Lastly, it discusses the roles of state and
non-state actors in mitigating the threat of political vigilantism to political
security using both primary and secondary sources in the data gathering
process. The study demonstrates that unemployment and vulnerability of the
youth, mutual suspicion among the political actors, and low confidence in
state institutions motivate political vigilantism in Ghana. It also finds a high
possibility of terrorists riding on the back of political vigilantism to plunge the
country into chaos. The porous nature of borders in the West African subregion
even makes this threat imminent. Political vigilantism tends to erode
Ghana‟s soft power in global affairs. Therefore, the study recommends that
both state and non-state actors adopt a broad-based approach to confront the
problem frontally.
