Okoe Boye endorses Ga-Dangme demonstration over demolitions, displacement

Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, has thrown his support behind calls for a peaceful demonstration by the Ga-Dangme Progressive Front over demolitions, displacement and the destruction of livelihoods in Ga-Dangme communities.

The demonstration, dubbed “Aaagbe wɔ demo,” is scheduled for Thursday, October 29, with participants expected to converge at La Pleasure Beach near the Total Fuel Station before marching to Jubilee House to present a petition.

In a Facebook post, Dr Okoe Boye said the growing wave of demolitions and displacement, particularly in communities along the coastline, required urgent attention and justice for affected residents.

“From Labadi Beach to communities along our coastline, the growing wave of demolitions, displacement, and destruction of livelihoods demands more than public outrage. It demands justice,” he said.

He argued that the Ga-Dangme people should not be reduced to spectators as their ancestral lands, heritage and livelihoods are threatened.

“The Ga-Dangme people cannot be reduced to spectators on their ancestral lands, watching generations of heritage, enterprise and identity disappear before their eyes,” he added.

Dr Okoe Boye further condemned what he described as the brutalisation of residents and the destruction of their livelihoods and heritage, insisting that such developments should not be met with silence.

“You cannot brutalise a people, destroy their livelihoods, desecrate their heritage and demand their silence,” he stated.

According to him, the concerns go beyond land disputes, touching on the history, identity and belonging of the Ga-Dangme people, as well as their right to live with dignity on their ancestral lands.

He also cautioned against the use of state power in ways that could lead to brutality, humiliation and dispossession.

“State power must never become an instrument of brutality, humiliation and dispossession,” he said.

The Ga-Dangme Progressive Front has invited residents across the Greater Accra Region to participate in the peaceful demonstration, which it says seeks justice while protecting the dignity, rights, and heritage of the Ga-Adangbe people.

Dr Okoe Boye concluded that affected residents deserved answers and accountability, stressing that, above all, they deserved justice.