Freedom To Demonstrate Doesn’t Imply You Should Misbehave – Info. Minister Chides Democracy Hub Protesters

Fatimatu Abubakar, the Minister of Information, has vehemently condemned the behaviour of the Democracy Hub protesters during their 3-day demonstration against galamsey.

The protesters who thronged the 37 Military Hospital refused to allow commuters enter the hospital or go to their destinations resulting in chaos.

They blocked the road, set fire in the middle of the intersection, played football on the road and engaged in various acts that obstructed public peace.

These unlawful acts including their leader, Oliver Barker-Vormawor removing and throwing away Police vehicle keys, compelled the Police to arrest and process them for prosecution.

Over 50 of them were apprehended, arraigned before the court and remanded into Police custody.

However, the Police have been receiving harsh criticisms for their lawful handling of the situation.

Commenting on the incident in an interview on ‘Kokrokoo’ morning show on Peace FM, the Minister found the protesters’ conduct very unfortunate and unconstitutional.

“In pursuing your right, remember that where your right ends is where somebody else’s right begins…Because you have your freedom to demonstrate, it also implies that someone has freedom not to demonstrate,” she remarked.

Fatimatu Abubakar further slammed the demonstrators saying, “maybe we haven’t seen a war zone before. Maybe we haven’t seen Rwanda, Mali, Burkina Faso nor Niger (civil war) before, so we are downplaying our peac and calling for war thinking they will be able to fight the war. But they don’t know, only if they’ve had the benefits of accessing the laws, the trauma, the aftermath, decades of countries that are unable to recover, I don’t think they would beat the war drums”.

She seized the opportunity to advice the youth and all Ghanaians to abide by the laws of the country stressing “it is our duty, first of all, to pursue the interest of the State or the country called Ghana before we pursue our individual interest”.

The Minister also commended the Police for not manhandling the protesters.

“In all these, I am happy that the Police did not resort to violence. I am happy that they had guns, clubs and shields but they didn’t hit anybody,” she stated.

Source:peacefmonline.com