The chairperson of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights, Dempster Brown, says the Commission is not a cheering squad, but rather, an entity that is empowered by the Act that established it to monitor the activities of the government and provide the appropriate advice.
Mr. Brown noted that the INCHR has the constitutional mandate to protect and promote human rights and not to sing praises to the government.
“I want to make it clear here that we are not against the government of this country, but we want to see things going the right way. We are not a cheering squad. The Human Rights Commission is not a cheering squad, but an institution that is recognized internationally,” Brown emphasized.
He made the statement on July 31, 2023, when he spoke at the opening program of a three day security management training for government security institutions.
The INCHR boss bragged that under his stewardship, some government agencies are beginning to comply with international human rights standards in their operations.
Meanwhile, he has expressed concerns about proliferation of private security officers by political parties and the militancy of some young people, in the name of party brigades.
Mr. Brown stressed that the October 10 event is crucial to the peace and safety of the state and wants government’s security actors to take full charge of all security actions, ahead of the elections.
“Most of the political parties have private security. It is not necessary. What happened to the police?” Brown asked rhetorically.
“This is a very crucial election we are going into; the question is whether it will be peaceful or not. With the multiplicity of private security around political parties and aspirants, our national police has the statutory responsibility to protect lives and properties, but the police lacks the logistics and manpower to execute its function properly,” Mr. Brown said.
He asserted that all political parties are insinuating that they will win on the first ballot, which could be the main trigger of violence, and wants the NEC and partners to act accordingly, so as to avoid conflicts which could turn violent.
Report by Gideon Nma Scott, Jr.
