The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has joined that there was no justification for the arrest of some protestors during the #OccupyJulorbiHouse demonstration on Thursday, September 21, and ended on Saturday 23.
The NCCE stated that Democracy Hub’s right to stage a protest is a fundamental right of many who participated, and it must be recognized as such.
It said the arrests and the “alleged heavy-handed and excessive response by the personnel of the Ghana Police Service,” were unfortunate.
“The NCCE wishes to remind all stakeholders that “freedom of assembly including freedom to take part in processions and demonstrations” is a fundamental human right. There is absolutely no justification for the alleged heavy-handed and excessive response by the personnel of the Ghana Police Service on the demonstrators. Indeed, it is unfortunate that after thirty years of constitutional democracy, the Police Service often appears to have difficulty responding to basic crowd control challenges, and all too frequently resorts to heavy-handed tactics.”
Meanwhile, the NCCE has admonished Ghanaians to respect the rule of law during protests.
“That said, NCCE also reminds citizens that fundamental human rights are not absolute; demonstrations, processions and other expressions of citizens’ discontent must happen within the confines of the law.
“The Commission reiterates the need for all Ghanaians, including the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary, state institutions, and political parties, civic society organisations, the clergy to unite and work together to help consolidate and preserve Ghana’s democracy in order to bequeath to posterity, a democracy better than what we inherited.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
