Minority Suspends OccupyBoG Protest Again Over Security Concerns

The Minority caucus in Ghana’s Parliament has for the second time suspended its planned protest to occupy the premises of the Bank of Ghana to demand the resignation of the governor and his deputies.

The protest will now be held on the 3rd of October 2023.

The decision to postpone the protest according to the minority comes after the Police failed to mark out safe zones for the protest.

Minority leader Cassiel Ato Forson while addressing the media said the picketing has been temporarily called off For public safety.

The minority had earlier insisted that the protest would proceed on Tuesday, September 12, despite the Ghana Police Service’s disapproval of its amended routes for the protest.

The meeting between the leadership of the Minority and the police ended inconclusively on Monday, with the MPs accusing the police of deliberately scheming to stop their planned protest for the removal of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and his deputies.

After three hours of meeting, the Minority told journalists that the police had failed to mark out a favourable route to them for the protest, hence their conclusion to embark on the demonstration.

The Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, said, “The demonstration is tomorrow, we’ve made it clear to them. We have agreed on the routes and we are telling them that we will terminate at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum. We gave them our word on that and we will stick to that.”

He added, “So the demonstration starts at Obra Spot through Adabraka, through Ridge Roundabout, to National Theatre then we turn through the ministries and then we hit the Atta Mills highway, we turn right and then we pass the National Lotteries and terminate at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum.”

Bernard Monarh, who deserted the meeting for what he said was a “waste of time,” told journalists, “We on our part have amended our routes, we will change to start from Obra Square and go through Adabraka, go through Military Police Headquarters and then come all the way to terminate at the BoG. They say they have a problem because the BoG is a security zone. So we have asked them where is the end of the security threat to the BoG so we can terminate there. The regional commander has gone up and down, up and down and now you are telling us that you don’t even agree on the date for the protestation. I cannot waste my time in such a meeting.”

He added, “Tomorrow is our demonstration and that is what we have been discussing for the past two and half hours.”

The Minority’s decision to proceed with the protest comes despite the fact that the High Court has yet to hear an injunction application filed by the police against the protest.

The police filed the injunction application on September 8, arguing that the protest would be a security threat and would disrupt public order.

The Minority MPs have objected to the injunction application, arguing that it is an attempt to stifle their right to freedom of assembly and expression.

The case is scheduled to be heard on September 18.