The government has criticized the organisers of the OccupyJulorbiHouse protests, labelling them a failure due to their inability to submit a petition outlining their concerns.
Speaking in an interview with Citi News, Alhassan Tampuli Sulemana, the Member of Parliament for Gushegu and Deputy Minister of Transport, revealed that he had been designated by the government to receive the petition from the Democracy Hub group.
However, he expressed disappointment that the group failed to present any concerns during the protest.
“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.”
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Accra on Saturday for three days of anti-government protests linked to economic hardship that led to dozens of arrests on the first day.
Protesters, some waving placards or the Ghanaian flag, decried the high cost of living and a lack of jobs as they marched under the watch of riot police.
The gold-, oil- and cocoa-producing nation has been battling its worst economic crisis in a generation brought on by spiralling public debt.
The protest proceeded despite the police filing an injunction application on Wednesday, September 20, to prevent the Democracy Hub group from proceeding with their planned protest.
Despite the police’s orders, the group leaders insisted on proceeding with the protest. On Thursday, September 21, the police halted the group from gathering at Jubilee House, leading to the arrest of 49 members of Democracy Hub.
Undeterred, the group continued their protest on Friday and Saturday, but the police blocked their attempts to march to the Jubilee House.
