Abstract:
ABSTRACT
The democratic dispensation of Ghana is fraught with spates of violent acts
perpetrated by political vigilante groups which pose threats to human security of
residents. Consequently, this study uses a qualitative approach to explore political
vigilantism and its effects on human security in the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana. The
purposive sampling procedure was used in selecting key informants from three sub areas in the metropolis, representatives of the police, District Assembly, the National
Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), media and political party executives from
the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). The
snowball sampling approach was further used in selecting ten political vigilantes
while 54 residents were similarly sampled using convenience sampling. The study
revealed that the quest for jobs and income mainly motivate people to join political
vigilante groups. It was also identified that the political vigilante groups are
strategically sophisticated. These sophisticated strategies thus has ramifications on the
human security of individuals by way of: causing fear and want, deaths, chronic
health problems, physical environmental crises, poverty, disrupting economic
activities and the sources of income for people, widening inequality, disenfranchising
people and disturbing the broader society. The study recommended that Government
should make sustainable jobs and livelihood empowerment programmes available for
the alarming youthful population. It also recommended that political parties should
have the political will to disband such groups and ensure they do not interfere in the
discharge of the duties of the national security apparatus when individuals engaged in
political vigilante offences and other crimes of similitude are caught.
