Gen-Z Demo: High Court grants injunction against 7-day protest

The fate of the Gen-Z demonstration slated for July 30, 2024, is in shambles as the High Court, presided over by Justice Mary Maame Yanzuh, has granted an injunction preventing the 7-day protest from taking place.

This decision follows an application filed by the police service, which raised concerns about public safety.

The police argued that if the demonstration were allowed as planned, it could jeopardize public order and disrupt essential services.

The organizers—Positive Transparency and Accountability Movement-Ghana (PTAAM-GH), Arise Ghana, and Alliance for Social Equality and Public Accountability (ASEPA) Ghana—notified the police of their intention to stage the demonstration.

The protest, according to the organizers, is expected to put not less than two million young people on the streets of Accra from July 31 to August 6, 2024.

The objective of the protest is to demonstrate the severe economic hardships affecting mainly the youth in this country, driving a number of them into drug addiction, dangerous journeys, and even joining terrorist groups.

The exercise is also to protest the heavy taxes the government has imposed on citizens, including the needless betting tax, COVID tax, sanitation tax, and the increased taxes on internet data, among others.

The protest is also to express Gen-Z's disgust for the massive corruption and nepotism that have characterized the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia administration.

However, following a disagreement with the police on the modalities of the protest, the Inspector General of Police, through the Regional Command, filed a motion for an injunction.

Reacting to the judge’s ruling in an interview with Awisi Dede, one of the conveners of the demonstration and Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson, questioned the basis for the police’s concerns. He pledged to file another request for the protest, insisting that they would persist until the police service complied.

“This afternoon, we shall file another notice with the police to begin another round of engagements to ensure that Gen-Zs in this country can demonstrate. We also caution the police, who have made it their responsibility to abuse the court processes and to find whatever means to prevent the lawful and peaceful demonstration of young people, that they must be wary of the fact that when young people spontaneously hit the streets, as it happened in Kenya, they will have a big crisis on their hands to deal with,” he said.