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Hundreds of protesters called on the government to provide better security for citizens amid several high-profile killings.
Hundreds of opposition supporters marched through the streets of Accra, the capital of Ghana, to demonstrate against what they have described as growing insecurity and lawlessness since President Nana Akufo came to power. Addo in 2017.
Dressed mostly in red or black, the youth wing of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) danced the streets on Tuesday with signs such as “You tweeted for George Floyd… Ghanaians are dead, speak up!”.
Accompanied by the horns of motorcycles and the music of vans, the group delivered a petition to the offices of the president and the speaker of parliament.
“Thank you to the young people of Ghana for coming and organizing a peaceful protest,” George Opare Addo, the national youth organizer for the NDC, posted on Twitter.
“That the powers that be see reason in our protest and act accordingly. “
What a day! Thank you to the young people of Ghana for coming and demonstrating peacefully. May the powers that be see reason in our protest and act accordingly. More photos will arrive! #MarchForJustice #YouthPower pic.twitter.com/fUoynwkCkn
– George Opare Addo, Esq. (@georgeoaddo) July 6, 2021
Protesters reported a spate of high-profile killings across the country.
“The recent murders in the city scared us. We are afraid to go out at night for fear of being killed, ”Kingsley Boateng, a 40-year-old mechanic, told Reuters news agency.
Two protesters were shot dead and four injured in clashes with security forces in the southern Ashanti region last month, during rallies following the death of young activist Ibrahim “Kaaka” Mohammed.
“The police are full of tyrants and vigilante groups,” said Alisu Ibrahim, an organizer of the protest, according to the AFP news agency.
“They killed our people. This is why we are protesting.
Protesters also held up banners criticizing economic hardship and unemployment, referencing the hashtag #FixTheCountry which has become a popular social media protest on Twitter in Ghana.
NDC opposition member dances in front of police officers at anti-government protest in Accra [Nipah Dennis/AFP]
Akufo-Addo won a second term in December following a heated election that was marred by violence in which at least five people were killed, a rarity in a country that has a reputation for being one of the most stable democracies in West Africa.
On June 29, unidentified people beat a young civil rights activist to death in the town of Ejura, police told local media. A few days later, two people protesting his death died following clashes with security forces.
“Those who fight for the country to be repaired have become enemies of your government because they are either intimidated, harassed or killed,” the petition says.
Among its demands, the NDC said the president should “depoliticize the security services by introducing reforms to give real meaning to [their] independence”.
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