Former Minister for National Security and Information, Hon. Kofi Totobi Quakyi, has called for an urgent review and operational revamping of the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act, 2019 (Act 999), warning that outlawed political vigilante networks have not vanished, but have mutated into land guards, informal task forces, and private enforcement details.
Delivering remarks during the first panel session at the National Policy Dialogue organised by Election Watch Ghana at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), the veteran national security strategist cautioned against abandoning the 2019 statute, insisting that statutory prohibition remains essential if backed by decisive operational enforcement.
Rather than throwing the law out, Act 999 needs revamping, Totobi Quakyi declared. It is vital that this law exists to keep us in order, but security agencies must ensure that it actually works on the ground.
The Mutation of Political Violence: Banned Militias as Land Guards
Recalling his initial warnings following the passage of Act 999 in February 2019, enacted in the wake of the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election violence, Hon. Totobi Quakyi observed that while headline groups like the Invisible Forces and Azorka Boys were formally proscribed, their core personnel quickly pivoted into other sectors of the underground security economy.
The people in these vigilante groups are the very land guards terrorising communities across the country, Totobi Quakyi revealed. Dealing decisively with land guards will directly help enforce Act 999 and dismantle political militias at their root. We cannot separate the two.
He cautioned that ad-hoc community or private security groups must never be weaponised by or attached to political parties, citing recent disturbances in Ablekuma North where unidentified men committed acts of physical assault in what appeared to be retaliatory cycles linked to past electoral grievances.
Strategic Roadmap: A Two-Pronged Approach to Enforcement
To prevent the further resurgence of informal armed networks ahead of future political cycles, Hon. Totobi Quakyi outlined a two-pronged strategy for state security commanders and policymakers:
1. Continuous Legal & Operational Review: Close statutory loopholes in Act 999 that allow ad-hoc task forces and land guard syndicates to operate as proxy militias for political elites.
2. Sustained Political Dialogue: Maintain active, structured engagement between state security leadership, political party executives, and community stakeholders.
Institutional Progress and the Path Ahead
While acknowledging that several recommendations from previous electoral violence review panels remain unfulfilled, the former National Security Coordinator praised the Ghana Police-led National Election Security Task Force for its demonstrated professionalism during the 2024 general elections.
He emphasised that while state security institutions are making tangible progress, vigilance remains essential.
Institutional progress is being made, but state security agencies must remain vigilant to prevent a resurgence of organised political violence under new banners, he concluded.
