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The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Tarkwa-Nsuaem, Mr Benjamin Kessie, has called for the strict enforcement of the vigilantism and offences Act and to punish offenders who flout the law.

He said the law should deal with deviant youth, who would want to engage in vigilantism, to serve as a deterrent to others.

Addressing participants at a one-day advocacy campaign workshop organized by the National Peace Council on the roadmap to the eradication of political vigilantism in Ghana at Tarkwa, Mr Kessie said vigilantism had done more harm to Ghanaians than good.

He said it was a collective responsibility of political parties, electoral commission, media, security agencies, judiciary, civil society, citizenry and observer mission, to ensure compliance to the law.

Mr Kessie said political parties were formed with different ideologies and strategies for the development of Ghana and these were presented to Ghanaians to make informed choices of affiliation.

"Political parties with vigilantism will rather be retrogression to our development as Ghanaians because the hard-earned properties of the nation and the citizenry are destroyed based on an individual's high stake to own power and in some cases, even human lives are lost in this regard," he added.

The MCE said the activities of vigilante groups put the country’s stability under threat.

"I was very excited and impressed after the NPP disassociated itself with any such group after the Ayawaso West Wugon bye-election and also pledged to support the offences Act to deal with such culprits," he said

Mr Kessie said the vigilante groups could be channelled into productive ventures to benefit the nation, adding that, the government was not relenting on creating jobs in all sectors of the economy to empower the youth to make them more responsible and useful to the nation.

He emphasized that the President's agenda for jobs, creating prosperity and equal opportunity for all could not be achieved without peace.

"Political leaders will come and go but this country is the inheritance of our unborn generations and they should come and know that we protected a better and safe place for them," the MCE said.

He encouraged the participants to be educators in their various communities and help raise better youth for a peaceful nation.

Mr Kessie applauded the Western Regional Peace Council for the important and timely workshop to remind Ghanaians that peace was priceless but very expensive.