Togolese protesters to face court

The Accra Police Command says it has begun processes to arraign some 26 Togolese nationals resident in Ghana for violating public order.

According to the police, the leadership of the group notified them of their intended demonstration in Accra, but failed to secure clearance before embarking on the protest.

“So, these persons have been arrested and as I speak to you, they are all being processed and we hope that by Monday [October 28] we would have been done with all of our processes and they will all be put before the law court,” Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police Command, ASP Effia Tenge, told Class FM on Saturday, October 28.

The police picked up the 26 Togolese nationals who were part of some 300 demonstrators in the capital.

Accra FM's Anita Bempong reported that the demonstrating Togolese, who are all resident in Ghana, converged at the Kawukudi Park near the Accra Girls Senior High School on Saturday morning, clad in red and black attire to protest against their country’s leader. They are joining their fellow citizens back home to put pressure on President Faure Gnassingbe to relinquish power and restore the country to democratic rule.

But ASP Tenge insists: “By the Public Order Act, anybody who wants to embark on such a demonstration needs to notify the police and some modalities met. If all these things are not met and not in accordance with the law, it will be difficult for anybody or any group of persons to believe that they can just get up and jump on to the streets and begin to demonstrate.”