Police dictating route for our demo – NDC cries foul

The National Youth Organizer of Opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sidii Abubakar Musah is accusing the Ghana Police Service of attempting to prevent supporters of the party from using scheduled routes for their upcoming protest.

The NDC youth wing has served notice to embark on a protest against what they call lawless attacks by New Patriotic Party (NPP) supporters on former government officials, and some citizens working in government institutions.

The demonstration dubbed “March for Self Defense” is slated for February 24, 2017, but it appears the intended protest may be in limbo because the Ghana Police Service is not happy with the route chosen by the protestors.

The demonstrators intend to start their protest from the Kwame Nkrumah Circle – en route to Makola, through Atta Mills high street to custom head office traffic lights, straight to National theatre and end at Afrikiko, where the leaders will present their letters of grievance to President Nana Akufo-Addo at the Flagstaff House, the seat of government.

However, leader of the planned protest Sidii Abubakar Musah in an interview with Radio Gold said the police had written back to the organisers rejecting the chosen route citing security reasons.

“We have given them (police) the notice indicating the route we want to use and they have replied us declining the route that we intend to use. They want us to maintain certain routes. We also disagree with the route that they are proposing because we wanted to achieve a certain impact and the way we have programmed ourselves that is the best routes that will help us drum home our message,” he told host of the Gold Power Drive, Samuel Eshun.

He observed that there is no traditional route in Ghana for demonstration and that the police cannot dictate for them which route to use for the intended protest.

Sidii Abubakar added the NDC was ready to challenge any court order that may be filed by the police in an attempt to stop the protest.

Explaining why the February 24 date was chosen, Sidii Abubakar said “24th February was the day Dankwa-Busia staged a coup against Osagyefo Dr, Kwame Nkrumah. That is the period that marks the beginning of seizure of people’s properties under the Dankwa-Busia regime. So we put it in there to remind them (NPP) of what they did previously.”