Political Vigilantism in West Africa’s Contemporary Democratic Dispensation and Its Implication for Human Security: The Case of Ghana

Abstract

Even though democracy is progressively finding grounds in West Africa, analysts are increasingly becoming worried about the emerging trend of violent political vigilantism, especially among the youth. Across the sub-region, virtually no country is being spared the scourge of the violence. For countries that have experienced civil strife in the past this does not come as a surprise. However, when relatively stable democracies like Ghana begin to feature among the list of countries reeling under the plague of vigilantism, then it means the subject requires serious treatment. It is for this reason that this study seeks to explore the dynamics of political vigilantism in West Africa’s contemporary democratic dispensation and its implications for human security. Ghana is used as a case study in an effort to delve deeper into the occurrence. Among several others, the findings of the study show that the political culture of “winner-takesall” in Ghana is a major contributory factor to the phenomenon of political vigilantism. The study also established that if the current tide of vigilantism is not checkmated, it could lead to a destabilization of the country’s democracy. To this extent, the study recommends that political parties must disband all their para-militia youth wings and develop codes of conduct to guide their activities. The study also recommends that security agencies and the judiciary must be impartial, apolitical and fearless in when dealing with cases of vigilantism.