Akufo-Addo Distances Himself from Arrest of Protesters

The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has distanced himself from the arrest and subsequent remand of some protesters who hit the streets of Accra to demand an end to illegal mining in the country.

Fifty-four of the protesters were rounded in the course of the three-day protest which started on September 21 and ended on September 23 for unlawful assembly and engaging in illegal acts.

They were arraigned in batches at an Accra Circuit court and have all been remanded into prison and police custody for at least two weeks. This has attracted public criticism with a section of the public calling for their release.

In an interview with France 24, President Akufo-Addo was confronted about the incident, from which he distanced both himself and the executive arm.

“I’m not responsible for jailing people in Ghana. The courts in Ghana are independent institutions and they have been all through this period of the Fourth Republic. People misconducted themselves and they are brought to court to deal with them. It has nothing to do with the Executive and it’s their behaviours which landed them in a problem with the police and the court. It’s not the protest.”

He further noted that he is not against protest.

“How can the President who himself’s political career was aided by leading protest have problems with protest? I don’t have a problem with protests. Nothing is done in Ghana to prevent people from airing their views on anything.”

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini