For nearly three decades, Ghana stood as a premier model of democratic transitions, judicial independence, and civic stability in a volatile sub-region. Today, that reputation is being systematically hollowed out from within. Beneath the orderly surface of regular election cycles lies a darker, more entrenched reality of political lawlessness, state-sponsored intimidation, and a culture of impunity that shields the powerful from the consequences of their actions. The story of Ghana’s modern political landscape is no longer found in its progressive legislation, but in the widening gap between the law on paper and the reality of violence on the streets.

The Attack on the Gavel

The erosion of this democratic structure became publicly visible inside the Kumasi Circuit Court. Members of the Delta Force, a notorious political vigilante group openly affiliated with the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), stormed the courtroom of Her Honour Mary Nsenkyire [graphic.com.gh]. Moments earlier, the judge had ordered 13 of their members to be remanded in custody for a previous assault on a regional security coordinator.

In an unprecedented security failure, the state had deployed only two police officers to secure the high-risk trial—one of whom was heavily pregnant. As an angry mob smashed court fixtures and breached the inner bar, these two overwhelmed officers had to physically shield the judge, rushing her into her private chambers as the attackers forcibly freed the remanded suspects from lawful custody.

The structural damage to the judiciary was confirmed when the state prosecution subsequently dropped all charges against the eight primary instigators of the raid, citing a “lack of evidence.” This sudden withdrawal drew sharp condemnation from the Ghana Bar Association, which warned that the state’s failure to prosecute had effectively institutionalized courtroom intimidation.

The Killing of the Reporter

While the judiciary was being intimidated, investigative journalism was met with lethal violence. Ahmed Hussein-Suale, a lead investigator with the anti-corruption firm Tiger Eye PI, was shot three times at close range by unidentified men on a motorbike in Madina, Accra. Suale had just concluded the explosive “Number 12” investigation, which exposed deep-seated bribery and corruption within African football.

Months before his assassination, sitting Member of Parliament Kennedy Agyapong used his private television station, Net 2 TV, to broadcast Suale’s face, reveal his residential neighborhood, and explicitly urge viewers to assault him, promising that he would handle any legal costs.

Despite global condemnation and direct intervention from United Nations human rights experts, no state authority initiated criminal or regulatory proceedings against the lawmaker for his televised incitement. Years later, the state investigation remains a monument to institutional gridlock. Primary suspects have been cyclically arrested and discharged by the courts due to a declared lack of a prima facie case, leaving the Ghana Journalists Association to continuously protest a system where violence against journalists incurs no legal penalty.

The Blood on the Ballot

The deadliest manifestation of this institutional breakdown occurs when state security forces turn live ammunition on unarmed civilians during civic processes. The dark climax of this trend occurred during the 2020 general elections, specifically at the Techiman South constituency results collation centre in the Bono East Region. Following heated disputes over the vote counting process, anxious crowds gathered to witness the final verification. State security forces responded by firing live rounds directly into the gathered voters.

According to final investigative tracking by civil society watchdogs and police files, the deployment of state weapons across collation centers cost the lives of eight Ghanaian citizens. The casualties included three children: 12-year-old Zakaria Samira, 14-year-old Musah Fuseini, and 16-year-old Botwe Tackie, alongside young adults like 18-year-old Abdallah Ayarek. Over 34 other voters sustained permanent, severe trauma from gunshot injuries. Years later, despite promises of reform, cold case reviews, and parliamentary debates, not a single state security official or political actor has faced prosecution or been held criminally liable for ordering live fire into crowds of voters.

The Broken Mirror of Accountability

The modern legislative solution to this rising tide of violence arrived via the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act, 2019 (Act 999), which banned named party groups like the NPP’s Delta Force and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Azorka Boys. However, data compiled by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reveals a parallel reality: while formal vigilante groups disappeared from public view, their members were simply absorbed directly into state structures as un-uniformed, masked tactical personnel within national security operations.

This dangerous loophole was clearly exposed when the executive branch issued an official White Paper rejecting the core prosecution recommendations of the Emile Short Commission of Inquiry, which had investigated the state-backed political brutality during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election. By shielding its own operatives from criminal accountability, the state undermined its own anti-vigilantism legislation.

When challenged on this record, political discourse quickly evolves into partisan finger-pointing, with both major parties invoking the legal maxim that “he who comes to equity must come with clean hands.” Supporters of the current administration point to the historical record of the opposition NDC, citing the 2016 Montie 3 incident—where a sitting president used executive pardon powers to free radio commentators who had been jailed for threatening to rape and murder Supreme Court judges. They also point to the unprosecuted armed violence between party forces during the 2015 Talensi by-election.

Roadmap to Reform: Structural Recommendations

To rescue Ghana’s democracy from structural decay, civil society groups and legal experts propose the following urgent policy transformations:

• Establishment of a Dedicated Judicial Security Service: Moving away from ad-hoc regional police deployments, the state must establish a fully trained, insulated security wing under the direct control of the Judicial Service to protect judges and court houses uniformly.
• Independent Operationalization of the Special Prosecutor and Police: The Office of the Special Prosecutor and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) must be given secure, fixed tenures independent of executive regime changes to allow the uniform prosecution of politically exposed persons and state security actors without fear of removal.
• Demilitarization of Electoral Collation Centres: Armed military tactical units must be legally restricted from entering interior vote collation areas, leaving perimeter policing strictly to standard, un-weaponized civil police units.
• Enforcement of Act 999 Against State Absolutions: State intelligence agencies must undergo strict, independent civilian auditing to identify and discharge former vigilante operatives who have transitioned into official national security protocols under political patronage.

A Fragmented Republic

Ultimately, independent empirical tracking by organizations like CDD-Ghana and Afrobarometer indicates that the erosion of Ghana’s democratic standing is not caused by a lack of laws, but by a systematic failure to enforce them. Recent tracking reveals that over 85% of citizens express profound concern regarding institutional corruption and the partisan protection of criminals.

When political expediency shields perpetrators from criminal prosecution—whether they are courtroom rioters, killers of journalists, or security operatives firing on citizens at vote counts—the state weakens its own democratic foundations. For Ghana to reclaim its position as a resilient democracy, it must move past partisan rhetoric. True accountability requires an independent judiciary, a fully protected press, and a police service empowered to enforce the law uniformly, regardless of who holds political power.

✍️ Submitted by:
Retired Senior Citizen
For and on behalf of all Senior Citizens of the Republic of Ghana 🇬🇭

Teshie-Nungua
[email protected]