Attack on #HandsOffOurHotels protesters exposes unprofessionalism of police - Acquaye

Security, Intelligence, and Conflict Analyst, Anthony Acquaye, has condemned the Ghana Police Service over its handling of protestors at the #HandsOffOurHotels demonstration that took place in Accra on Tuesday, June 18, 2024.

In a statement shared with GhanaWeb following the protest, Acquaye said that he found it very unfortunate that the demonstration which was largely peaceful was marred with chaos because of the police involvement.

He said that such a thing could have been avoided but for the unprofessionalism of the policemen who led the disruption of the peaceful protest.

He added that this error of the police appears to be politically motivated.

“It is very unfortunate to see a demonstration that started in a peaceful manner, ending in a clash which could have been avoided between the protesters and the Formed Police Unit (FPU) of the Ghana Police Service leading to some members of the protesters injured and rushed to the 37 military hospital.

“The main cause reasoning of the clash was something that truly exposes the unprofessionalism of whoever played the commanding role of the operation to protect and control the protest and the acting crowd. If not politically motivated to initiate such deadly trigger of the conflict in the late minutes of the demonstration between the police and the protesters,” he wrote.

Anthony Acquaye further stated that it would have been more appropriate for the police to stick to the agreed routes for the demonstration, rather than use a last-minute attempt in changing it, which resulted in the chaos.

He, therefore, called on the Ghana Police Service to adopt more problem-solving approaches in dealing with situations like this, rather than the typical confrontational strategy it employs.

“Considering the confrontational crowd control approach, where tear gas and pepper spray were activated against the protest in their quest to express concern of the surprise barricades mounted was very unfortunate. I am from the standpoint that the commander in charge of the crowd operation could have called the leadership of the demonstration early in the morning and informed them about the changes even before they started, to help explain to the protesters the change of destination to avoid the surprise breach of accord.

“Moving forward, it is imperative to state that Ghana Police Service must rise up to the occasion and adopt a cutting-edge approach of problem-solving policing, rather than confrontational policing to avoid outbreaks of civil unrest one day, since a proven theory of frustration and aggression have demonstrated that individuals in the crowd through frustration have caused a lot of civil unrests in many countries across the world with very negative outcomes,” he added.

What happened?

The clash occurred as protesters made their way to the final destination of the protest - Christ the King Catholic Church, near the seat of government; Jubilee House.

Tensions rose after the police blocked the road leading to the church in an attempt to prevent the protesters from advancing.

Some protesters were seen grappling with the police to remove the barricades, while others were throwing objects at law enforcement officials.

Eventually, the police resorted to using pepper spray on some of the demonstrators.

The protesters gathered at the Labadi Beach Hotel to kick off the "Hands Off Our Hotels Demonstration,” which aimed, primarily, to urge the government to stop the sale of 60 percent shares in four hotels owned by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to Rock City Hotel, a company owned by Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong.

The hotels involved in the controversial sale include Labadi Beach Hotel, La Palm Royal Beach Resort, Elmina Beach Resort, and Busua Beach Resort.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, led the protest.

Read Anthony Acquaye’s full statement below:

HAND OFF OUR HOTELS DEMONSTRATION : THE SELFISHNESS OF GHANA POLICE SERVICE IN PUTTING PROTESTERS AT RISK OF INJURIES MUST BE CONDEMNED

----------------------------------------------------------------------

It is very unfortunate to see a demonstration that started in a peaceful manner, ending in crash which could have been avoided between the protesters and the Formed Police Unit (FPU) of the Ghana Police Service leading to some members of the protesters injured and rushed to the 37 military hospital.

The main cause reasoning of the clash was something that truly exposes the unprofessionalim of whoever played the commanding role of the operation to protect and control the protest and the acting crowd. If not politically motivated to initiate such deadly trigger of the conflict in the late minutes of the demonstration between the police and the protesters.

Every seasoned, and knowledgeable formed police officers were trained not only on how to manage and control crowd, but also to know the type, behaviour, features, and characteristics of the crowd, which has been profiled to control or manage.

Therefore, haven known the kind of crowd as both acting and protest for this particular "Hand off our hotels demonstration", with one of its key features as anger expression and enthusiastic actions towards a common social - political concern, should have positively preempt the commander who was tactically leading the crowd control operation to stick to the agreed destination point which also serves as a guiding principle of the demonstration to aviod conflict on destination point.

Nowhere across the world will an acting and protest crowd of different diversity be expected to be calmed, when they are ambushed with a surprise stop over from their agreed destination with no solid reason. The activation of access control barricades at Cocoa Research Junction rather than the Christ the King as the original destination was a breach of agreement, and I look forward to the leadership of the demonstration to further prosecute the Commanding officer who was tactically in charge of the operation or invite him to parliament to answer certain questions to serve as a caution.

Considering the confrontational crowd control approach, where tear gas and pepper spray were activated against the protest in their quest to express concern of the surprise barricades mounted was very unfortunate. I am from the standpoint that the commander in charge of the crowd operation could have called the leadership of the demonstration early in the morning and informed them about the changes even before they started, to help explain to the protesters the change of destination to avoid the surprise breach of accord.

Moving forward, it is imperative to state that Ghana Police Service must rise up to the occasion and adopt a cutting-edge approach of problem-solving policing rather than confrontational policing to avoid outbreaks of civil unrest one day, since a proven theory of frustration and aggression have demonstrated that individuals in the crowd through frustration have caused a lot of civil unrest in many countries across the world with very negative outcomes.

Signed

Anthony Acquaye ( MCPS, BSc Stat, PISM, ECSIFS, CFFI, CBCI)

Security, Intelligence, and Conflict Analyst.

AE