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#FixTheCountry demo: COVID-19 should not be used to suppress our right - Sammy Gyamfi

The National Democratic Congress Communications Director, Sammy Gyamfi, has said the police cannot use the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic to stop the #FixTheCountry protest.

Sammy Gyamfi

The Greater Accra Regional Police Command stopped the campaigners of the #FixTheCountry protest slated for May 9, 2021.

According to the police, it cannot permit the #FixTheCountry group to embark on their intended demonstration.

The Public Relations Officer of the Greater Accra Regional Police Command, DSP Effia Tenge, said the Public Order Act, which imposes a ban on public gatherings, especially due to the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic, restrains the Command from sanctioning the #FixTheCountry protest.

In an interview on Accra-based Class FM, she said: "The notification to the police to organise a demonstration is provided by the Public Order Act and, so, once we receive a notification from an organiser or a group of people planning on such a demonstration, what we do as a command is to invite them, sit down, we look at the letter, look at the merits of the letter on such a demonstration."

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She said: "If there's anything the police needs to take note of and advise the group as such; whether the letter, in a way, endangers public safety; whether the police has the numbers to protect the demonstrating public; we take all these into consideration and then the police decides what action to take based on the discussions between us and the groups who are intending to embark on this demonstration."

But Sammy Gyamfi said: "it's about time we had a national conversation about the constitutionality of the Imposition of Restrictions Act, 2020 (Act 1012)."

In a Twitter post, he said "COVID-19 should not be used as a pretext to suppress our inalienable right to peaceful assembly."

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