-As Party Police Justify Using Tear Gas And Water Canons On Arise Ghana Demonstrators
The Ghana Police Service has justified its use of tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators during Tuesday’s protest by the pressure group, Arise Ghana.
The bloody scenes were a re-echoing of bloody tyrannical regimes where freedom to protest is massively cracked down by a regime steeped in tyranny, as the Akufo Addo administration has become reputable for.
Whatsup News witnessed bloody scenes where the massive demonstration of the non-partisan pressure group protesting economic hardships was brutally squashed by an ill-trained police force sparking a class that resulted in tear gassing of the protestors and retaliation with stone-throwing from the mob.
Indeed, Whatsup News has been pictures and videos of a police officer in an armoured crowd control vehicle launching stones at protestors, in what many believe to be a deliberate act of provocation that started the clash between protestors and the police.
In the ensuing commotion, one protestor’s eyes were smashed into a bloody pulp with several other civilian protestors were brutally beaten up by the Police.
In a statement signed by the Director of Public Affairs, Grace Ansah-Akrofi, the Police said it used the tear gas and the canons to subdue what it dubiously termed a “riot” by the crowd.
At least a dozen people sustained injuries.
But according to the Police, the demonstrators went contrary to court orders directing that the protest should commence at the Obra Spot in Accra and end at the Independence Square.
It said demonstrators gathered at the Obra spot at about 8 am alright, but “the organizers insisted on using routes leading to the Jubilee House.”
The statement said, “…All attempts to persuade them to comply with the court-approved routes did not yield the expected results.”
The police said, “Unfortunately all without any provocation, the demonstrators began pelting the police with stones. The demonstrators further regrouped and burnt tires on the road around Circle,” the Police added.
Meanwhile, the Police say they will arrest all those involved in this violent demonstration and bring them before the law.
As of the close of Tuesday, the Police said it had arrest6ed three demonstrators.
Meanwhile, the police have reported that 12 of its officers have sustained various degrees of injuries with some vehicles damaged.
On Monday, the High Court (Criminal Court 4 Decision) has directed organisers of the Arise Ghana #KromAyeShe demonstration to end their public protests at 4 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.
The Court struck a balance between the competing directive of the Police for the demonstration to end at 3 pm on Tuesday, and the desire of the organisers to run till 8:00 pm.
The ruling reflects the growing audacity of the Akufo Addo administration using the courts and the Police service to brutally crackdown on dissent, particularly ones related to the massive corruption and economic collapse of Ghana.
According to the group, their mass action is to protest against persistent and astronomical hikes in fuel prices by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government that has imposed excruciating economic hardships on Ghanaians; protest against the imposition of the obnoxious E-Levy on the already-burdened Ghanaian people and demand for its immediate repeal.
The group also wanted to highlight the fraudulent Agyapa Royalty deal where government cronies are reported to have lined up to rob the country of its mineral resources.
The protest also highlighted the need for a full-scale and bi-partisan parliamentary probe into COVID-19 expenditures which have become apparent that the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has grossly mismanaged.
The protest was also against the grabbing of State lands by officials of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government, particularly the de-classification of huge portions of the Achimota Forest Reserve.
Incidentally, while Akufo Addo’s regime has brutally squashed and killed peaceful protestors in the past couple of years, President Akufo Addo himself had been hailed in the past as a human rights advocate and a key member of the “Kumi Preko” demonstration almost three decades ago against the then military regime of ex-President Jerry Rawlings over economic hardship epitomized by the introduction of the Valued Added Tax (VAT) system.