We Will Go Ahead With The March - CJA

The Committee for Joint Action (CJA) says it will go ahead with the People's Jubilee Procession on March 6, as planned in spite of 'intimidating tactics' by its opponents.



A statement signed by Emelia Arthur, on behalf of the CJA, said: 'There is an entirely deceitful attempt to portray the March 6, procession as unlawful or subversive'.

It said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government and the Greater Accra Police Command still seek to create the false impression that citizens require a police permit to undertake public events under the public order act.

It argued that the 'law allows the Police to request organisers of a public event to postpone or relocate the event if it had reasonable grounds to believe that the proposed event will ensure public peace and security on health'.

It said the police had not made a response, which should be in writing, to the CJA, and added that 'no court can in good conscience entertain an application from the police for an order prohibiting the procession'.

'The correct and legal position is that the police must turn out on March 6, and facilitate our exercise of our constitutional rights or be in breach of their statutory and constitutional duty.

The statement also condemned the tagging of the CJA as anarchists, saying the group rather 'wished to provide a popular platform for the masses as an alternative to the essentially elitist Ghana@50 pragramme'.

'We wish to celebrate Kwame Nkrumah, the pro-eminent strategist and tactician of the struggles against classical colonialism. We will do so peacefully as we mean no harm', it added.

It said the CJA will not be cowed by any disinformation and name calling, which it described as provocations, and called on Ghanaians to remember to rise to the challenge as they did 50 years ago.

'Ghanaians understand now as never before that the independence we celebrate today was precisely an act of rebellion against people, who sought to use the power of the state to deny us our rights', he stated.