"God please kill JJ for us": demonstrating workers

Demonstrating civil servants in Accra were recently reported by the Free Press as chanting "God please kill JJ for us". Over the past week, there were widespread demonstrations in Accra by civil servants and nurses over the effects of VAT and the poor working conditions in the country.

The first demo involved nurses from all govt hospitasls and clinics, who staged a three-hour march through the Greater Accra Regional ASdministration and presented Mr Mike Gizo, Regional Minister, with a petition for onward transmission to the President. The contents of the petion were not disclosed but informed sources said they hinged on the govt's failed promise made tro nurses on their remuneration and working conditions.

Next was the Civil Servants Association whose demo started from the Regional Secretariat of the association and carried through the principal streets of Accra. Some of the placards of the demonstrators read: "J.J. remember us in paradise", "VAT must be reviewed" and "God will punish you, Botchwey".

In an address, the Greater Accra chairman of the CSA, Mr Tennyson Foli, said the demo was to show that they were aggrieved even though it would not be a "daily affair", a remark which drew jeers and boos froom the crowd who swore that they would continue with the demo each day.