What Is Happening In Ghana?
Today, September 21, is a very important day in Ghana’s history. A day set aside to celebrate the life of one of its most revolutionary leaders—Kwame Nkrumah, whose struggle for independence and role in democracy cannot go unrecognized. Nkrumah’s legacy highlighted industrialism and nationalism as major themes in his political style. Yet, the current-day Ghana can be imagined to be Nkrumah’s greatest nightmare.
In full exercise of their fundamental human rights, a civil rights group—Democracy Hub— has called for a peaceful demonstration to protest rising living expenses, tyranny, press censorship, and state capture by the Ghanaian government. Yesterday, September 20, 2023, the state police issued a warning to citizens urging them to boycott the protest, claiming to have a court injunction to back up their stance, but unfortunately, no such document has been produced.
The #OccupyJulorBiHouse hashtag is a play on the words Occupy and Jubilee House, Ghana’s seat of power and home to the number one citizen of the country. The word Julor Bi is coined from the Ga phrase “Child of a Thief” Accra’s native language. It is a reference to the country’s out-of-touch, neglectful ruling class, whose choices and decisions are responsible for driving the Gold Coast into chaos.
The peaceful demonstration kicked off in the early hours of today, and the police have since been accused of bullying and intimidating protesters, claiming there’s a threat to security, resulting in over 50 violent arrests of protesters at the Jubilee House. Rumored to be politically sponsored by the opposition party, the group has maintained that they were not served with any application for a court injunction in honor of the protest.
What Does This Mean For Ghana?
The Ghanaian constitution upholds the freedom of assembly and associations, and this includes the right to embark on peaceful demonstrations and protests, such as #OccupyJulorBiHouse. The sheer disregard for this as displayed by the police’s interference and unlawful arrests is proof that the rule of law does not hold water in comparison to the powers of the ruling class.
This is a developing story.