June 4th demo absurd; like a military takeover – Adib Saani

A security analyst, Adib Saani has criticized the group of Ghanaians who want to demonstrate with their own security on June 4, 2022.

According to him, though the group had some legitimate concerns such as the “E-levy which is an unpopular move, the seeming attack on press freedom, Agyapa Deal, the arrogance of power, the corruption in the system,” their modus operandi is questionable.

“I don’t know whether they really mean it but it just doesn’t add up. Going to the State Broadcaster with weapons and having access to airtime is like a Military take-over so to speak, it looks like an army take-over and we wouldn’t want to see that.

“It’s preposterous for anyone to think that a private security company that is not trained in crowd control and that is not trained in providing security during demonstrations can do a better job than the police. Obviously, this has nothing to do with no trust in the police. There is a motive and I am unable to tell right now,” he told Joshua Kodjo Mensah on Starr today Wednesday.

He continued: “As citizens we are not supposed to brandish weapons unless with the approval by the IGP and that is contain in the Arms and Ammunition Act. We also have the Public Order Act that is quite categorical that the police is required to provide security and you need to inform them for a number of hours before time.”

Background

A group of Ghanaians seeking to demonstrate for three days beginning June 4 have written to the Accra regional Police Command to allow them to demonstrate with their own private security.

The individuals including broadcasters Captain Smart and Okatakyie Afrifa are also asking the Police to allow demonstrators carry their own registered weapons to the march to protect themselves.

“We will bring our own security company to provide protection to demonstrators. All weapons held by demonstrators or by the contracted security personal will be for personal protection only; and all weapons will be duly permitted in accordance with the Arms and Ammunitions Act, 1972 (NRCD 9) e) Proposed route and destination: We expect that the Demonstrators will gather at Circle.

“The procession will move from Circle to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, where the Protestors will make a demand a slot on GTV to speak directly to the Nation and lay out our grievances, in accordance with Article 55(11), which guarantees fair opportunity to Ghanaians to present their programmes to the public through equal access to the state-owned media,” the statement said.

The group mentioned the reported sale of the Achimota forest, the Agyapa deal among others as reasons for their planned protest.

“We believe that the conditions that precipitated the June 4th overthrow of the military Government are not only present today but have actually gotten worse. Today, the 4th Republic has been taken over by thieves. Rather than prevent plunder of the treasure through the law, they themselves plunder the state and use the law and police violence to shield themselves from accountability.

“There is no rot in every institution, and those who speak up against wrong are now victimized an abused French Economist, Journalist &Statesman Frederic Bastiat- once wrote that “Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. Sometimes the law places the whole apparatus of judges, police, prisons and soldiers at the service of the plunderers, and treats the victim – when he defends himself – as a criminal.”

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