A scene from the demonstration
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) yesterday assembled hundreds of their supporters to demonstrate against the government.
Dubbed ‘March For Justice’, the demonstration was the culmination of their previous demands to go on the street protest having been turned down over COVID-19 concerns.
Spotting red shirts, many of the supporters were bused from vantage points in Accra to the Accra Mall area where the march started.
The NDC’s National Youth Organiser, George Opare Addo, said the march was intended to call on the government to “fix many issues” in the country.
“We are marching for justice for our fallen brothers and sisters, to tell this government to fix the country, and create enough jobs for young people. We want the culture of silence to be broken and insecurity within the country tackled,” he said.
There was no shortage of police officers to ensure orderliness of the protest march.
The route varied from the usual Obra Spot at Circle, having been organised to kickstart from the Accra Mall area winding through the Opeibia House and the 37 Military Hospital area and ending up at the Old Parliament House.
The organisers claimed they pulled in their colleagues from the Inter-Party Resistance Against the New Voters Register (IPRAN) – six groupings which came together to resist the new voters’ register.
Leading the charge were NDC leaders like Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, National Chairman; Johnson Asiedu Nketia, General Secretary; Peter Otukunor, Deputy General Secretary; Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, Director of Elections; Hannah Bisiw, Women’s Organiser and some of their MPs.
The General Secretary, known for his acerbic tongue, asked the President to delist what he claimed to be vigilantes recruited into the military, a call he made before the march even proceeded.
Mr. Asiedu Nketia said “the protectors of the country are getting a bad name because of the actions of President Akufo-Addo’s vigilantes. It has brought division between citizens and security personnel because those killing us now, are clad in police and military uniforms. They have been given guns and when they kill civilians it further deepens the division.”
“This has not been the relationship between civilians and security personnel since independence. So what happened that now our protectors are shooting us like we are grass cutters?” he quizzed.
The protesters displayed an assortment of placards which displayed assortment of sentiments, all of course negative and against the ruling NPP and President Akufo-Addo.
A leading member of the party and now MP for Buem, Kofi Adams, like his colleagues, expressed displeasure over what he regard as the overbearing attitude of security agents in the country.
For him, the democratic gains in the country are being compromised, adding that acts of violence during the 2020 polls to date have not received government’s action.
He subtly stated that the military uniforms are used by non-soldiers to go and misbehave.
“Now people are clothed in respectable uniforms, sometimes these respectable uniforms are given to citizens to go out there and misbehave. This cannot continue in a country like Ghana, which should be serving as an example to many other countries,” he said, but could not provide any proof to back his claims.
Continuing, he said Ghanaians are unhappy about the rising incidents of armed robbery, the killing of citizens during the last elections and, as he put it, the “invasion of Parliament by soldiers and killing of two persons in Ejura in the Ashanti Region.”
Kofi Adams said cynically that COVID-19 is less deadly than the recent occurrences in the country.
“The recent happenings in the country are worse than COVID-19. Kaaka, who is gone, did not die because of COVID-19. Those who died after him did not die because of COVID-19. The people in Wa who suffer various forms of injuries were not harmed by COVID-19. The young man who lost his limb was not as a result of COVID-19.
“If Ghanaians who deserve to be protected by the state are rather being killed and maimed by the institutions, then there is the need to draw the attention of the state to press the brakes,” he argued.
The march went ahead without any regard for COVID-19 protocols, and some health experts have said it could serve as a super spreader for the disease in the coming days.
In the course of the march, they presented a petition to the presidency and it was received by Deputy Chief of Staff Emmanuel Adumua Bossman.
By A.R. Gomda