The people who were marching against the sale of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) hotels had their protest cut short by the police on Tuesday, June 19. The demonstrators had planned to end their march at Christ The King, but the police stopped them halfway at the switchback road in Cantonment, Accra.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the person in charge of organizing the “Hands Off our Hotels” protest, was not happy with how the police handled the situation. When he was talking on the New Central show on TV3, he asked the police, “Is this the Christ the King?” He was upset that they weren’t allowed to finish their march as planned.
Mr. Ablakwa also said that some of the people who were protesting had to be taken to the hospital quickly because they needed medical help. He claimed that this was because the police had used tear gas on the crowd. He warned the police, saying, “If anything happens to any demonstrators, we will hold the Police accountable.”
It seems like the protest took a turn for the worse when the police intervened. Instead of letting the demonstrators walk to their agreed endpoint, the police decided to stop them in the middle of their route. This led to some people getting hurt and needing to go to the hospital.
The organizer of the protest is clearly unhappy with how the police dealt with the situation. He feels that they should have been allowed to finish their march peacefully, as they had planned. Now, he is saying that if any of the protesters have serious health problems because of what the police did, the police will be held responsible.
It’s a tense situation, and it looks like there are still some unresolved issues between the protesters and the police. Hopefully, everyone involved can find a way to communicate better and work together to make sure that people can exercise their right to protest safely and without interference.
