The Accra High Court has prohibited the Arise Ghana Movement from demonstrating deep into the night, ruling on Monday (27 June) that the group should close at 4pm.
The police dragged the pressure group to court after the leadership of the movement failed to comply with suggestions to hit the streets during day time in order to provide adequate security.
“Due to the lack of agreement between the police and the organisers on the time for the demonstration and location for their planned picketing, the police have had no option but to submit the process to the court for a determination,” the director of public affairs, Chief superintendent Grace Ansah-Akrofi said in the statement released on Sunday (26 June).
On Monday, Justice Comfort Tasiame partially granted an application from the Ghana Police Service to restrain Arise Ghana from embarking on the protest at night.
The police said the night protest could jeopardise Ghana’s security in the wake of terrorist attacks in neighbouring Togo.
After hearing their various submissions in court, Justice Tasiame ruled that the protest should terminate at 4pm.
The three-day demonstration is scheduled to start at 8am from the Obra Spot in Accra on Tuesday June 28 2022. It will end at the Black Star Square.
Bernard Mornah, a member of Arise Ghana Movement said the group will comply with the court’s order.
Police acting in bad faith
Meanwhile, ahead of the court sitting, the leading member of the Arise Ghana Movement, Mensah Thompson, served notice that the pressure group will still go ahead with its planned night demonstration, despite concerns raised by the police.
Speaking to Kwaku Nhyira-Addo on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Monday (27 June), Mensah said the move is an attempt to frustrate the organisers.
“We had a meeting with the police and concluded three weeks ago. If the police had a problem with the timing and the processes, what stops them from going to court earlier so that we can battle it efficiently. Why should the police wait till a day before our demonstration before they go to court.
“We went out to print our flyers, banners to do our promotions, the public engagement, the duration and the time, venue and everything because we had reached a concrete agreement with the police,” Thompson said.
“So for the police to then wait for the last minute to come with this flimsy excuse is a clear demonstration of bad faith, and I say that if the police want to engender confidence, if the police want the public to have trust in them, these are the very things they must avoid,” he added.
Andrew Sepah
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