Red Friday Demo Hits Accra

A section of the demonstrators
Organisers of the ‘Occupy Flagstaff House’ demonstration have introduced a new Campaign called the ‘Red Friday’ to pressurise government to respond to the concerns listed in their petition to the President.

According to the Concerned Ghanaians for Responsible Governance (CGRG), the main objective of the ‘Red Friday’ campaign is to keep the issues raised in their petition alive until government responds.

The group embarked on a demonstration on July 1 to complain about the sorry living conditions of citizens in the country.

They subsequently submitted a petition to the Presidency which was received by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Valery Sawyer.

The Executive Secretary of the group, George Kojo Anti, in an interview with  Citi News  said government must address the challenges facing the nation with urgency; hence the decision to organise the ‘Red Friday’.

He noted that the issues raised in the petition they presented to the President on July 1’are issues that are symptomatic of the hardship of the ordinary Ghanaian.’

The ‘Occupy Flagstaff House’ protesters, who were largely middle class people, bore placards some of which read, ‘The King Is Naked’, ‘Onukpa Be Shia!! Shame’, ‘Mahama Aden’, ‘Mahama Fix The Economy’ ‘Mr. President You Have Failed Ghanaians,’ and ‘Y’ayÉ› DÉ›n’.

At the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park, where the demonstrated started, Ebo Sam, one of the organisers, told the media that the protest had become necessary due to the economic hardship which was collapsing their businesses.

‘We want the President to know that we are suffering so something urgently must be done to make Ghanaians happy,’ he said.

Among the prominent people who participated in the demonstration were former MTN Chief Marketing Officer, George Andah; Vice President of local think-tank IMANI, Kofi Bentil; a lecturer at the Ashesi University, Dr. Esi Ansah and Yoofi Grant of Databank.

Gov’t Responds
A few days after the protest, government, in a letter addressed to the CGRG, by the Chief of Staff, Prosper Bani, acknowledged receipt of the group’s petition and thanked them for their interest in the governance process.

‘I am instructed to assure you that the contents have been well noted and receiving the necessary attention,’ the letter stated.