By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) Minority Caucus in Parliament has for the second time suspended its planned demonstration to occupy the premises of the country’s Central Bank to demand the resignation of the Governor and his deputies.
The planned demonstration, according to the group will now be held on the 3rd of October 2023.
The decision to postpone the demonstration, for the second time running, is as a result of the failure of the Ghana Police Service to mark out safe zones for the protest. The Minority Caucus has alluded.
Addressing the media shortly after their inconclusive meeting with the Greater Accra Regional Police Command, the Minority Leader, Mr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson indicated that the picketing has been temporarily called off for public safety.
The Minority had earlier insisted that the protest would proceed on Tuesday, September 12, 2023, despite the Ghana Police Service’s disapproval of its amended routes for the protest.
The meeting between the leadership of the Minority and the Police ended inconclusively on Monday, September 11, 2023, with the MPs accusing the police of deliberately scheming to stop their planned protest for the removal of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and his deputies.
After three hours of meeting, the Minority told journalists that the Police had failed to mark out a favourable route for the protest, hence their conclusion to embark on the demonstration.
A member of the group OccupyBoG, Mr. Bernard Monarh, who deserted the meeting halfway for what he said was a “waste of time,” told journalists, “We on our part have amended our routes, We will change to start from Obra Square and go through Adabraka, go through Military Police Headquarters and then come all the way to terminate at the BoG. They say they have a problem because the BoG is a security zone. So we have asked them where the end of the security threat to the BoG is so we can terminate there. The regional commander has gone up and down, up and down and now you are telling us that you don’t even agree on the date for the protestation. I cannot waste my time in such a meeting.”
The Police filed the injunction application on September 8, 2023, arguing that the protest would be a security threat and would disrupt public order.
The Minority MPs have objected to the injunction application, arguing that it is an attempt to stifle their right to freedom of assembly and expression.
The case is scheduled to be heard on September 18, 2023.
