The Member of Parliament for Gushegu and the Deputy Minister of Transport, Alhassan Tampuli Sulemana has voiced his displeasure with the #OccupyJulorbiHouse protest organizers, calling the protests an exercise in futility because they were unable to submit a petition explaining their grievances.
The Honorable Alhassan Tampuli Sulemana claimed that he was designated by the government to receive the petition of the Democracy Hub group, which organized the protests.
According to the Deputy Minister, he was disappointed to know that the group did not present any specific issues during the demonstrations.
“It became very necessary for us to meet them. At some point, I was told, for instance, that all of them wanted to come. So we said, okay, we will move to where you are if you just want to present a petition. I will move under escort to wherever they were.
“That was when I was told that actually there was no petition. So, it is like a right that has been exercised, but the point hasn’t been drummed home. So the leadership actually failed,”
Alhassan Tampuli Sulemana
Police Management Summons Accra Regional Police Command Boss
The Police Management Board (POMAB) has called Commissioner of Police, COP Sayibu Gariba, the regional police commander for Accra, to provide justifications for the barbaric treatment of #OccupyJulorbiHouse protesters by the police on Thursday 21 September 2023.
The incident has received condemnations from well-meaning Ghanaians and organizations including the Peace Counsel, the Minority in Parliament, the ruling New Patriotic Party Youth Wing, the University Teachers Association of Ghana, University of Ghana Chapter among others, who have all accused the police of using excessive force against unarmed civilians.
Sources within the Police Service indicate that the Police Service has taken a serious view of the matter and has queried Commissioner of Police Gariba and also summoned him to explain what happened.
Meanwhile, the Police Service has apologized to the public for the inconvenience caused during the three-day protests.
The Ghana Police Service confirmed that it arrested 49 individuals involved in the Occupy the Jubilee House Protest. According to the statement signed by the Head, of Public Affairs Unit/AR, Superintendent of Police Juliana Obeng, the 49 individuals were to assist in its investigations.
The statement also indicated that the arrest was a result of the flagrant disregard of the court process served on the organizers of the Democracy Hub group, which sought to prohibit them from embarking on its planned demonstration within the vicinity of the Jubilee House from Thursday, 21st to Saturday, 23rd September 2023.
The group called Democracy Hub led a three-day protest to express its disappointment at what it described as the poor economic management of the country by President Akuffo Addo and the New Patriotic Party administration.
Its protest began on Thursday, 21 September 2023, on the same day that the nation commemorated its first President’s birthday, the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day.
The protesters insisted on marching to the Jubilee House, the seat of the presidency but were, however, stopped by the police leading to reports of molestations and abuse of the protesters by officers of the Ghana Police Service.
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