Hundreds of Ghanaians on Saturday stormed the streets of Accra to protest the present economic hardships in the country and called for the resignation of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia.
Led by private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu, the “Ku Me Preko Reloaded” (#NanaMustGo) demonstration which brought together pressure groups, the Economic Fighters League and #FixTheCountry movement had heavy police presence with horses and armoured vehicles.
Clad in black and red attires, the protestors who gathered at the Obra Spot around 7am held placards with inscriptions including “Ohia P3 Dede,” “Stop Galamsey from Flagstaff House,” “Protect Our Culture!!! Save Arts Centre,” “Protect Activists,” “Ghana is a Crime Scene,” “We Voted for Service not Opulence,” and “Nkrumah Never Dies,”
Others were “Protect Journalists,” “Sika Mp3 Mismanagement,” “Cedi Devaluation=Agyapa Deal,” “Poverty is on the Rise,” “Theft Loves Silence,” “Justice for Macho Kaaka,” “We are all Osagyefo,” “Adinkra Symbol of Failure,” and “Enough of the Lies and Deception.”
Participants marched through Adabraka and Ministries to the Black Stars Square where a petition asking the President and his vice to step down was presented.
Meanwhile, the protest is a reenactment of President Akufo-Addo’s protest organised in 1995 to express misgivings over economic difficulties under the leadership of the late former president, Jerry John Rawlings.
Mr Kpebu said the protest had become necessary because the government had failed to deliver on its mandate for which reason the president and his officials were to resign.
He emphasised that the current economic turbulence faced by the country was out of the ordinary and was putting unreasonable pressure on the ordinary Ghanaian and that could not be condoned anymore.
“You will be amazed how the international community will welcome this new development that our democracy is strengthened if the president and his vice resign,” he added.
Mr Kpebu at a presser in Accra on Friday accused the president and vice for supervising “reckless borrowing” which played a huge role in the hardship being suffered by Ghanaians and wondered why both of them were still in office.
“The President must take responsibility of the current situation and resign. The President has failed in the fight against corruption as well.
“They brought us here and they cannot lead us out of it. It is only honourable that those who are responsible for our woes make way for new ideas,” Mr Kpebu added.
A social activist, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, stated that government officials were opulent at the expense of Ghanaians and that was not way to go for which reason Ghanaians were demanding the power given them.
He expressed his excitement at the turnout though was not as expected, adding that the message of the protest had been sent.
Nii Ayi Opare, National Spokesperson, Economic Fighters League said ministers of state as well as Members of Parliament (MPs) were to be blamed for the present economic hardships for which reason they were all to vacate their seats and leave office.
BY ABIGAIL ARTHUR
