Your demo cannot go beyond 4pm – Court tells Arise Ghana group

The High Court (Criminal Court 4 Decision) has directed organisers of the Arise Ghana #KromAyeShe demonstration to end their public protests at 4pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.

The Court effectively struck a balance between the competing directive of the Police for the demonstration to end at 3pm on Tuesday, and the desire of the organisers to run till 8:00pm.

The Court, presided over by Her Ladyship Comfort Kwasiwor Tasiame also directed that the demonstration should commence at 8am with the demonstrators converging at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, moving through Farisco and TUC to the Independence Square.

A representative from the Presidency, may, according to the Court Order, meet the #KromAyeShe demonstrators at the endpoint to receive their petition.

The Ghana Police Service had gone to court seeking to restrain the organisers from embarking on the demonstration in the form and manner they had been planned.

The organisers intended a 2-day demonstration, to close each day at 8pm, but the police, in their case before the court, argued that recent terror attacks within the sub-region presented security red flags that did not allow for such an arrangement.

Lawyers for Bernard Mornah and Arise Ghana, Organisers of the demonstration, said the reason ascribed by the police was far-fetched.

Godwin Edudzie Tamakloe, lead counsel for the organisers, argued that the organisers had demonstrated good faith and a willingness to engage the police on the disagreement over time.

He said the police’s position was surprising.

Describing the police application before Court as “playing on the emotional keyboard of this honourable court by mongering fear”, Mr. Tamakloe said it was in bad faith.

He thus prayed the court to do a balancing act between the 3pm the police was proposing and 8pm as proposed by the organisers; in the event that the court was minded to grant the police order.

Mr. Tamakloe challenged the police service to request for an in-camera hearing where it would show the court, if any, the intelligence-based security analysis of an imminent terror attack supporting their applicantion.

Her Ladyship, Comfort Kwasiwor Tasiame, in making his orders, however, said it was for Peace.

She urged the parties to put Ghana first in all concerns.

To the organisers, Her Ladyship said, “I believe within that time whatever message you want us to hear you can carry it across”.