'Kume Preko' victims deserve national recognition

Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby

One of the organizers of the 'Kume preko' demonstration in 1995 which claimed four lives has called for a national memorial in honour of the four.

Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, speaking to Joy News' Dzifa Bampoh on the 15th anniversary of the demonstration, said the four laid down their lives to give meaning to the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of assembly and public expression of dissent.

On May 11, 1995, thousands of Ghanaians poured onto the streets protesting the then President Jerry John Rawlings-led government's decision to introduce the Value Added Tax (VAT).

Persons identified as Castle security personnel among a group of counter demonstrators, opened fire on the demonstrators, killing four of them.

The Kume Preko demonstration was organised by the Alliance for Change, a pressure grooup led by activists such as NPP flag-bearer aspirant, Nana Akufo-Addo, Kwesi Pratt Jnr., Dr Wereko-Brobby and Malik Kweku Baako Jnr.

Dr Wereko-Brobby said while the 1992 Constitution expressly guarantees all citizens the right to free expression, it took the willingness of some Ghanaians to die, to break the jinx of the years of suppression of public expression of dissenting views.

Those who died in the process, he believes, deserve a national recognition for their bravery.

“Since those series of marches, I think there's been an acceptance that public demonstrations are legitimate instruments for us to exercise our rights [to free expression],” he said.

The organizers were not perturbed by the shootings and went ahead to organise other marches outside the capital.

Eventually the government suspended the introduction of the tax until it was later repackaged and accepted.

Play the attached audio for excerpts of the interview with Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby.

Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana