One placard that caught the eye of Awake News during today’s ‘Aagbe Wo’ street march was ‘Ghana beyond invisible forces’, and to the demonstrators, the criminal illegalities by the militant groups of the government have plunged Ghana into a state of insecurity.
They said the trajectory Ghana is travelling on is deadly if the government does not stop interfering in the operations of the state security agencies which it has handcuffed, and so, are unable to clamp down on these illegalities by the government’s vigilante groups.
The streets of Accra was, today, awash with opposition political parties, some civil society groups and individuals to demonstrate against the government’s inability to disband its vigilante groups, which have given Ghanaians torrid times in freely going about their daily activities since 2016.
The demonstrators were led by Bernard Mornarh, National Chairman of the People’s National Congress (PNC), and among the protesters were big shots from the National Democratic Congress, Convention People’s Party, PNC and Progressive People’s Party (PPP).
The demonstration started at the Obra Spot at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and their first port of call was the Ministry of Interior where Bernard Mornah presented the group’s petition to Ambrose Derry, the sector Minister, who promised that government would continue to provide better security to the citizenry.
The group-Inter-Party Coalition for National Sovereignty-outlined among other dastardly acts, the recent unprovoked shooting, injuries and thuggish attacks by some armed masked personnel deployed to mar a by-election at the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency.
The brutalities left eight defenseless civilians in critical condition at the 37 Military Hospital and Legon Hospital.
Bryan Acheampong, Minister of State in-charge of National Security, had not minced words that his outfit deployed the armed personnel to the grounds for a special operation, after intelligence that the residence of the NDC parliamentary candidate was hosting some persons to foment trouble in the by-election.
The irony of the matter was the Ghana Police Service saying they did not know the personnel who brutalized the civilians, though some of their uniformed personnel witnessed the barbaric acts.
These dastardly acts, the demonstrators concluded, could be a recipe for disaster should they continue to be quiet and hope that the government and state security agencies would take actions.
The group further marched to the Police Headquarters where the leadership, again, petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Asante Apeatu.
The group proceeded to the Jubilee House to present its last petition to a representative of President Akufo-Addo, who is on official national duties abroad.
The leadership of the group promised to pour onto the streets again should the insecurity in the country remain the same as it is.
The police deployed to guide the demonstrators were professional throughout the march.