Police stop Independence Day demo

General News of Tuesday, 10 February 2015

Source: citifmonline.com

Police PRO Efia Tenge

The Police Service have turned down a request by a group calling itself the Concerned Ghanaians Group, to embark on a demonstration on March 6.

According to the Police Service, a lot of its resources will be directed towards the Independence Day celebrations on March 6, hence their decision.

The group announced some weeks ago that they would embark on a public demonstration to express their resentment over government’s handling of the power challenges.

According to the Police, their tight schedule on the said date will make it impossible to give the group the necessary protection during their demonstration.

Speaking to Citi News, the Public Relations Officer of the Accra Police Command, ASP Effia Tenge said the group has been advised to reschedule their intended action.

“We realised that the date they were proposing coincided with the celebration of the Independence Day. Therefore, the police will not be able to provide them with the needed security on that. So having met the group, we have discussed with their leadership to go back and furnish us with a date that will be more convenient for the police and also for the group. They have indicated to us that they need to speak to members of their group and after that, they are going to get back to us,” she explained.

Reacting to the decision of the Police, a leading member of the “Concerned Ghanaians” Godfather Ofei Dei said the leadership chose the Independence Day due to the significance of the day to their course, but added that the group was yet to respond to the decision of the police.

“It is the significance of the day that we want to use to send out the message of our demonstration across; that after 58 years of independence we should not be in this crisis,” he said.

He, however added that the group was yet to officially respond to the decision of the police.

In a related development, the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has set Wednesday, February 18, to stage a demonstration over the current energy issue that has bedeviled the nation.