Pro-NPP group, Young Patriots has stated that they will defy the order given them by the Greater Accra Regional Police Command by going ahead with their planned demonstration on Tuesday, January 8.
The group is demonstrating against President John Mahama and the Electoral Commission for their roles in the alleged rigging of the December 7 Presidential elections.
The Police and the Young Patriot’s therefore met on Friday to discuss the routes to be used during the demonstration.
The meeting ended with the Police calling on the group to suspend the protest action.
However, in an interview on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News on Friday, the spokesperson for the group, Richard Nyamah explained that the reasons the Police gave were not substantial enough to impede their plans.
“When we met with them, they gave us two reasons why they cannot allow us to demonstrate on the 8th. One is that the date in question was a day that they couldn’t make it because they would have been tired after the 7the January swearing in and all that but we were looking to the Police to have given us a tangible reason why they cannot allow us to do a demonstration that day.”
He insisted that the leadership of the group had met the constitutional requirement and therefore, “the Police have no such power to stop us from demonstrating and that is why we are defying them.”
Mr. Nyamah further accused the Mayor of Accra, Dr. Okoe Vanderpuye for behaving as a dictator by insisting on issuing a permit before the group can assemble at Obra Spot in Accra.
“Anybody who wants to undertake an activity or function which will call for a congregation of people within the city should first seek approval from the assembly before embarking on any such activity and that those who violate the assembly’s by-laws will be arrested and sanctioned. Can Mr. Okoe Vanderpuye tell me that his work is law in this country?” he asked
According to him, Ghana has “moved from those PNC days, the coup days where the word of the President is law. The Public order act does not under any circumstance require us to take permission or approval from Alfred Okoe Vanderpuye and because of that singular reason, we will be on the streets on Tuesday, January 8, we shall demonstrate just because of that reason.”
Source: Citifmonline
