Oliver Barker-Vormawor, convener of the social media campaign #FixTheCountry, says the party would go to court to challenge the injunction that has halted their scheduled demonstration.
The party, made up of Ghanaians who are dissatisfied with the country’s economic challenges, announced their intention to protest on May 9, 2021.
The Ghana Police Service, on the other hand, obtained an injunction against the protest.
The court ruled that the proposed protest is illegal unless the ban on large gatherings is removed.
However, Mr. Barker-Vormawor, a campaign convener, claimed on Eyewitness News that the Police had no legitimate basis to refuse them their right to peaceful demonstration.
“If you look closely at the prohibition order that they obtained, you may see that it contains no mention of the Imposition of Restrictions Act. It specifically states that it is obtained under section 16 of the Public Order Act, so in referring to the Imposition of Restrictions Act, I am not aware of something in that statute that grants the police the power to protect that.”
“In their letter to us, the police stated that they could not approve our request due to Executive Instrument 395. The Imposition of Restrictions Act enacted the instrument in December 2020, and it has since expired. So the police were pointing to an out-of-date instrument.”
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“We are convinced that this step taken by the police is against the rule, in the context that there is a governing court ruling stating that it is no longer congruent with our constitution for the police to go to court on the blind side of protesters to seek an injunction to frustrate their mission, particularly when the individuals refused the right to demonstrate are identified to the police,” he said. We would challenge the legality of what the police have done.”
He also said that the party would “use all lawful means to reverse the court’s decision.”
Mr. Barker-Vormawor, on the other hand, said that the representatives of the group would follow the court decision while they pursue redress.
“This is not a lawless movement, but we will comply with the court decision for the time being and postpone the rally we had scheduled for May 9 until we go to court,” he said.
Using the hashtag #FixTheCountry, the group has been voicing its displeasure with successive governments’ inability to increase Ghanaians’ living standards.
They cited ‘dumsor,’ unemployment, and poor healthcare systems as evidence of the country’s mismanagement by successive governments.
SOURCE: ATLFMONLINE
