Public Order Law does not make sense, it’s time to throw it out of the window – Pratt

Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jr, has questioned the continued relevance and constitutionality of Ghana's Public Order Law, asserting that it unduly curtails citizens' fundamental right to demonstrate.

Speaking on Pan African TV on May 10, 2025, Pratt highlighted what he termed the "absurdity" of the legal provision.

The veteran journalist argued that the Public Order Law directly contradicts the spirit and letter of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which he insists guarantees an "unfettered right to demonstration."

"The 1992 Constitution guarantees an unfettered right to demonstration. The fetters to the right to demonstrate were actually introduced by the NDC by the Public Order Law, and I still believe that it's time to throw that Public Order Law out of the window," Pratt declared.

"It’s a law which clearly sets out to limit our right of people to demonstrate, and in practice, it doesn’t make any sense at all,” he said.

He recounted numerous instances where the police have, in his view, arbitrarily obstructed peaceful protests.

"Indeed, on many occasions, when citizens have attempted to demonstrate—in fact, on the majority of occasions, about 99% of occasions—the police has come up with some reason why they shouldn’t demonstrate... It's either the venue for the converging is a security zone, or the venue for the delivery of the final declaration and resolution and so on is a security zone, or the police is unable to marshal sufficient numbers to protect demonstrators, or the date for the demonstration is such an important day that demonstrators cannot demonstrate on that day and so on," he detailed.

Pratt also condemned the practice of law enforcement seeking ex parte injunctions to halt demonstrations. He noted that while one judge once ruled against such ex parte approvals, the impact of that judgment has not been fully realised, with such injunctions still frequently granted.

"What they used to do is to go to court for an ex parte motion and to get an injunction, and they always succeeded until one judge decided that that application must come unnoticed... Even that judgment, nobody has worked on that judgment. So, we still get ex parte approved and so on," he lamented.

Calling for a critical re-evaluation of the Public Order Law, Kwesi Pratt stressed that its primary function appears to be to frustrate citizens' exercise of their constitutional right to protest.

"I think it's important to revisit the Public Order Law and to restore what the 1992 Constitution sought to do. And that is to grant the unfettered right to people to demonstrate," he stated.

VPO