State Institutions and Political Party Vigilantism: The Cases of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), in the Northern Region from 2009 – 2017

Abstract

Political Party Vigilantism (PPV) has become not only a feature but also a menace in the politics of Ghana’s Fourth Republic. In Ghana, starting with the presidency of Jerry John Rawlings, PPV has expressed itself in inter-party rivalry between the two leading political parties – the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The use of propaganda to discredit rival parties and in extreme cases the forceful take-overs of state institutions (SIs) by political party vigilante groups (PPVGs) associated with the political party coming into power. A number of SIs have been particularly vulnerable to such particular take-overs, including the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA). Yet others like SSNIT and SIC have not been violently attacked. Also, the region worst affected by such disconcerting phenomenon is the Northern Region (NR). This study thus set out to identify the factors predisposing the NHIA and YEA to such violent vigilante take-overs in the NR. It notes that a legion of factors including patronage and clientelism, over-ambitious campaign promises and party-based recruitment policies, etc, accounted for the vigilante takeovers of these institutions. This study therefore recommends that a dispassionate but spirited round table discussion with the national chairpersons of the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress be organized and led by reputable nonpartisan bodies such as the National Peace Council, the National House of Chiefs, and Civil Service Organisations out a roadmap for disbanding and disowning vigilante groups that flagrantly perpetuate mayhem from the camps of the two major parties in the country. It further added that chiefs, imams, pastors, and other opinion leaders should also stop interfering in the works of the police by begging for culprits arrested by the police. This research work also recommends that laws that govern the running of existing state institutions be strengthened to insulate them from the excess attacks.