Charles Owusu, former Head of the Monitoring Unit at the Forestry Commission has commended the Ghana Police Service, under the leadership of Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, for their efforts in preventing the #OccupyJulorBiHouse protesters from staging a demonstration near the Jubilee House.
The organizers of the protest, Democracy Hub, had planned to conduct their demonstration in the vicinity of the Jubilee House from Thursday, September 21st to Saturday, September 23rd, 2023.
However, the police, through a statement, revealed that they had filed an injunction application with the court and were awaiting a decision on the matter before taking any further action.
On a related note, the police arrested 49 protesters on the previous day for purportedly violating the Public Order Act and engaging in unlawful assembly.
“The arrest was a result of the flagrant disregard of the court process served on the organisers of the Democracy Hub group, which seeks to prohibit them from embarking on a planned demonstration within the vicinity of the Jubilee House from Thursday, 21st to Saturday, 23rd September 2023.
“We would like to state that the Police do not take delight in preventing any group from demonstrating as the Service has a track record of providing security for demonstrations in the past. The exception, in this case, is the Police disagreement with the organisers on the venue, the Jubilee House, being a security zone,” parts of the statement read.
The Police cautioned the general public to “in the interest of public order and public safety to disregard any invitation by the organisers to take part in any unlawful demonstration until the determination of the matter by the court on September 26, 2023”.
In an interview with Peace FM, Charles Owusu stated emphatically that there is nothing wrong with the action by the police and thus commended the IGP and the entire service for protecting state property.
“I feel that what they did is right…What the Police has done is a good thing. Every property we used State money to do, it behoves the person with authority to protect it to keep it safe,” he said.