The Minority in Parliament has issued a stern warning to the Akufo-Addo-led government and the police, emphasizing that no amount of intimidation will deter Ghanaians from holding public officials accountable. They have also indicated their readiness for further civic action.
In a statement released by the Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson on Friday, September 22, 2023, the caucus asserted, “We shall remain citizens and not spectators.”
This statement comes in the wake of police brutalities meted out to a group of protesters on Thursday, September 21. In the ensuing melee, some 49 of the protestors were arrested and subjected to various forms of torture due to confusion over a court application filed by the police.
The police had argued that the demonstration would be unlawful as they had filed and served legal representatives of Democracy Hub with a court application on Tuesday, September 19. Nevertheless, the protesters defied the police order and gathered for the demonstration.
In their statement on Friday, the NDC MPs expressed outrage and disappointment at the police for deploying a “terror squad” of officers who brutally arrested the peaceful protesters. They found it shocking and unacceptable that, in 2023, officers of the Ghana Police Service would resort to outdated and archaic policing methods against peaceful protesters exercising their lawful and constitutionally guaranteed rights.
The Minority strongly condemned the police officers’ ruthless and barbaric crackdown on unarmed peaceful protesters, highlighting that such actions tarnish the reputation of the Ghana Police Service, especially in light of recent criticisms and ongoing parliamentary probes into partisan policing methods.
Furthermore, the Minority questioned the authority of the police to crack down on individuals for disregarding a lawful court order, stating that the courts have the power to deal with those who disobey their lawful orders and that the police should not usurp the role of the courts.
Read the full statement below:
The Minority in Parliament is outraged at and disappointed in the Ghana Police Service for
unleashing a terror squad of police officers who on Thursday shamefully brutalised and
arrested peaceful protesters in Accra.
It is shocking and unacceptable that in 2023 officers of the Ghana Police Service would
resort to backward and archaic policing methods to counter peaceful protesters who were
only manifesting their lawful and constitutionally guaranteed right.
We condemn in no uncertain terms the police officers’ ruthless and barbaric crackdown on
the unarmed peaceful protesters. For a police service that is badly and widely criticised for
its partisan policing methods in recent years, and for which a parliamentary probe is currently ongoing, the 16th-century style crackdown and terror unleashed by them on the peaceful protesters in Accra yesterday further dims the reputation of the Ghana Police Service. Even more shocking is the fact that the heinous and high-handedness of the police is inconsistent with its motto of Service with Integrity.
Reports say as many as 49 unarmed civilians have been arrested and detained in various
police cells in Accra while several others were brutalised and manhandled by officers of the
Ghana Police Service. Even journalists who were carrying out their lawful duties were
reportedly beaten and arrested by the police. This is unacceptable and undemocratic.
Never has there been a time in our recent democratic experience that a government would
be this intolerant of divergent views and the right to publicly protest, and the sad events of
Thursday represents a new low on this slippery path. It cannot be accepted that when
citizens decide to express their right to protest, the police frustrate and scuttle the
processes leading to the peaceful protest or where the protesters remain resolute by holding the protest, the police brutally crack down on them.
The Minority is appalled that the Ghana Police Service is increasingly seen to be lending
itself to a regime of terror and tyranny that is being meted out to critics of this intolerant
Akufo-Addo/Bawumia New Patriotic Party government. How can the Ghana Police justify its
actions today by stating that they were a result of “the flagrant disregard of the court
process served on the organisers” of the demonstration? Since when has the Ghana Police
Service been clothed with the authority to punish people who disregard a lawful court order, assuming there was any such order? The courts are clothed with powers to deal with those who disobey their lawful orders. The Ghana Police Service therefore cannot usurp the role of the courts.
We hold the view that the right to freely protest and civil liberties are under great threat
from the Ghana Police Service which has decided to usurp the authority of the courts and
act as law unto itself. The Minority further takes great exception to the new-found penchant
of the Police to designate public places such as the premises of the Jubilee House and other
state institutions as so-called “security zones”, when these very institutions hosted similar
protests in times past. This is an obvious attempt by the Police to shield public officials from
accountability and the same shall be fiercely resisted.
The Minority hereby demands the immediate and unconditional release of all protesters
who have been arrested. As efforts are underway to free all those who have been
unlawfully detained by the Police, we wish to assure the leaders of the protest, all
protesters and their families that the Minority firmly stands with them. Our national anthem
encourages us to resist oppressors’ rule and that we will do!
Finally, we wish to remind the police and the Akufo-Addo/ Bawumia government that no
amount of intimidation can stop the people of Ghana from holding the feet of appointees
and duty-bearers to the fire of accountability, and they must brace themselves for more
civic action. We shall remain citizens and not spectators!
***END***
HON. CASSIEL ATO FORSON, MP
MINORITY LEADER
