Ghanaian musician, Emmanuel Owusu Bonsu popularly known as ‘Wanlov the Kuborlor’ has accused President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of influencing the decision by the Ghana Police Service to detain the Occupy Julorbi House protestors.
According to him, the police service did not take the decision to deny relatives of arrested protestors from visiting them alone but believes the president and vice president had a hand in it.
In a video shared on his Twitter page and sighted by GhanaWeb on Friday, September 22, 2023, Wanlov blamed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for being the voices behind the ‘order from above’ statement made by the police when denying people access to the detained protestors.
“Everything in Ghana is fucked up. The politicians are hoarding millions of dollars in their bedrooms and offering millions of dollars to the organizers to not go ahead with the protest. The fact that they tried bribing the organizers of the protest $1m to not go ahead with the protest alone, shows that they are in the right direction.
"They were arresting journalists and lawyers, the police just lost their minds. And every time their behavior [arresting protestors] is questioned, they would say the ‘order is from above’. This means at least Dr. Bawumia is responsible for this, and definitely I don’t think he will act without the signature of Akufo-Addo," he said.
The controversial musician commended the protesters for their resilience in the face of detention and urged them to remain resolute in their quest to voice their grievances to the government.
"More vim to the protesters, yesterday you guys did fucking amazing. Big ups to all the protesters, organizers, lawyers, and everybody who got out of jail and slept at home. At least you did not sleep in jail, I know today too you guys are up there, Charley make some noise.
“If you don’t know what I am talking about there is a protest going on in Ghana against corruption, bad roads, and bad conditions of hospitals,” said Wanlov the Kuborlor.
Background
Demonstrators who had convened at the 37 Military Hospital were detained inside a bus after they chose to proceed with their planned peaceful protest, despite the police filing for an injunction barely 24 hours before the protest.
According to Twitter user @olelesalvador, protesters who had convened in the early hours of the day for the scheduled demonstration were huddled into a bus by the police.
The protesters were later transported to the Regional Police Headquarters.
The authorities instructed the protesters to turn off their mobile devices and surrender them to the police.
Several demonstrators raised concerns about the state of democracy, asserting that their right to protest is being infringed upon.
"From the 37 Station all the way to Max Mart, there are mounted police. Moving around with horses like there’s a riot.
Let this add to the fact that this is the worst government we’ve had in our entire existence as a country," @niilexis, a Twitter user bemoaned.
Another tweep, abena_mooley, also said, "Protesters are being arrested by the Police during the #OccupyJulorbiHouse demo
“Arise Ghana Youth for your country” I rose before 7 am for this and the police said enter the car????????????????????????????????".
Media houses present were being stopped from filming at the regional police headquarters.
The Occupy Julorbi House protest came at the back of Ghana's crumbling economy, high standards of living, and state of the Accra-Tema Motorway, among others.
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Ghanaian musician, Wanlov the Kuborlor