Court to determine location, time of Arise Ghana demonstration
The group, Arise Ghana, indicated it was going to demonstrate in parts of Accra for two days- June 28, 2022, from 3 pm to 10 pm and then continuing the same the next day.
The Ghana Police Service has asked the courts to intervene in an impasse over a planned demonstration by pressure group, Arise Ghana.
The police service and organisers of the demonstration have been unable to reach an agreement on the time and location of the planned picketing.
“The Police have had no option but to submit the process to the court for determination. This was duly communicated to arise Ghana in a letter on June 22, 2022,” a statement dated June 26, 2022, from the Ghana Police Service indicated.
The group, Arise Ghana, indicated it was going to demonstrate in parts of Accra for two days- June 28, 2022, from 3 pm to 10 pm and then continuing the same the next day.
The demonstration is to protest Ghana’s current economic conditions.
According to the police, however, “to adequately ensure the safety of demonstrators and other members of the public” it had asked the organisers to consider a change of time of the planned demonstration.
“Therefore in the interest of public order and safety, we entreated the organisers to reconsider their time frame and start the demostraetion early in the day and before night falls.
On June 22, 2022, Police received a verbal response from the organisers to the effect that they are unable to change the time of the demonstration,” the statement said.
A leading member of the group, Benard Mornah has however responded, saying his members will still go ahead with the planned demonstration.
“By law, we have complied with the Public Order Act. We have responded to the Police’s difficulties. IGP took up the matter, and we settled on the matter that the demonstration can hold. Despite this agreement, police say that they are not comfortable. It is in this country that the dumsor vigil was held. So the police have no excuse to say that the night vigil will affect them, so the demonstration will certainly come off.”
He further states the police have acted in bad faith and that would be unjust for the application to be granted by the court.
“That to further demonstrate the bad faith by the Police, the instant application even though on notice was served on me without a return date and this further demonstrates another bad faith by the Police to move the Application on our blind side.”