President’s action on demonstrations is unlawful - AFAG

Accra, June 30, GNA – Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), a pressure group close to the opposition political parties, on Tuesday raised issues with President John Evans Atta Mills for directing the Ghana Police Service, to give protection to any group, which wants to embark on demonstration.

AFAG said the directive came after the Police Service had secured a court order restraining the holding of the demonstration in breach of the 1992 Constitution and amounted to interfering with the independence of the courts.

It added that by such an action, the President was trying to score cheap political points.

Addressing a press conference in Accra, Mr Godfred Dame, Legal Adviser and Member of AFAG, said the group “deprecates the attempt by the President to reserve unto himself the prerogative of either approving or disapproving the exercise of a citizen's fundamental human rights, which is inalienable and specifically enshrined in the 1992 Constitution”.

The President gave the directive on Monday after the Police Service said it could not offer protection for the demonstrators because of logistical and personnel constraints.

AFAG notified the Police Service that it would embark on a demonstration on July 2, to protest over issues of “abuse of human rights of a section of the citizenry and deplorable economic conditions”.

Mr Dame said the situation where a court of competent jurisdiction gave an order and the President of the republic who, swore to protect and defend the Constitution, turned around to sanction or invite a disobedience of that order by the court was absurd.

He said the “Constitution of the land makes the judiciary independent and not subject to the control of the Executive” adding that human rights were not a privilege conferred on the citizenry by the President.

He said members of AFAG were law-abiding citizens and announced that since the court order by the police was still valid, AFAG would not embark on the scheduled demonstration.

GNA