#FixTheCountry protest to appeal on injunction in court – convenor

A convener of the social media movement, #FixTheCountry, Oliver Barker-Vormawor says the group will head to court to appeal the injunction stopping their planned protest.

The group, made up of Ghanaians who are unhappy with what they call the economic challenges in the country, declared their intention to protest on May 9, 2021.

But the Ghana Police Service secured an injunction against the protest.

The court ruled that the planned demonstration is prohibited until the restriction on public gathering is lifted.

But Mr. Barker-Vormawor, a convener for the movement, on Eyewitness News, argued that the Police have no legal grounds for denying them their right to peaceful protest.

“If you look clearly at the order of prohibition that they have secured, it makes no reference to the Imposition of Restrictions Act. It says clearly that it is obtained under section 16 of the Public Order Act, so in referencing the Imposition of Restrictions Act, I do not know anything under that law that gives the police any right to secure that.”

“The police in their response to us said they could not grant us our request because of Executive Instrument 395. That instrument was adopted in December 2020 by the Imposition of Restrictions Act, and that instrument has expired. So the police were referring to an expired instrument.”

He said: “We are convinced that this step taken by the police is against the law, in the sense that there is a controlling decision by the court saying that it is no longer congruent with our constitution for the police to go to court on the blind side of protestors and obtain an order to frustrate their mission, especially when the individuals denied the right to protest are known to the police. We need to question the propriety of what the police has done.”

He further indicated that the group will “employ all lawful means to overturn the verdict of the court.”

Mr. Barker-Vormawor however noted that the members of the group will comply with the court ruling as they seek redress.

“This is not a lawless movement, so we will comply with the court ruling for now and put on hold the protest we initially planned for May 9 as we head to court,” he added.

The group has been expressing its displeasure over the failure of successive governments to improve the living standards of Ghanaians using the hashtag #FixTheCountry.

They cited ‘dumsor’, unemployment and poor healthcare systems as proof of successive governments’ mismanagement of the country.