An old photo of Freddie Blay (standing) with former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
A former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, has disclosed that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo advocated for the disbandment of the vigilante groups of the party.
Speaking in an interview on JoyNews on Wednesday, July 17, 2025, he indicated that he was against the decision as the National Chairman of the party at the time because he felt the party needed to protect itself.
“The president then, Nana Akufo-Addo, insisted that we should disband vigilantism. I, Freddie Blay, was the chairman then, and I thought that maybe before you put down the gun, you must raise it. It was a deterrent.
“Sometimes, we suffered it (vigilatesim) when the police were standing by and we were being beaten; our office had been invaded. People had even come to put guns there and made it look as if we were harbouring a gun in our premises. So, I said, let’s have vigilante people so that they take care of us; let them be disciplined,” the former NPP National Chairman shared.
He indicated that the party decided to establish the vigilante groups because they were not being protected by the state’s security agencies during election violence.
“At that time, we allowed them to be there… We didn’t call it vigilante; we called them party security. But we wanted them to be disciplined.
“At the time, the whole idea was set up to find party security. We were being brutalised. People from outside came and beat us,” he said.
Watch a video of his remarks below:
“President Nana Addo insisted that we disband vigilantism but as the Chairman of the party, I thought that before you put down the gun you must raise it to serve as deterrent”
—Former Chairman of the NPP, Freddie Blay on why the party formed its own security group, stating it… pic.twitter.com/NJQgsbyyGa
— SIKAOFFICIAL🦍 (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) July 17, 2025
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