Greater Accra Regional Police Commander ‘threatens’ to deal with Ernesto Yeboah

DCOP Fredrick Adu-Anim, the Greater Accra Police Commander allegedly threatened Ernesto Yeboah and his Economic Fighters League when they decided to submit notice to the police for an intended public gathering.

According to Ernesto Yeboah in a Facebook post, the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander threatened him.

“Step foot there and see what will happen to you people,” Yeboah quoted DCOP Adu-Anim as allegedly saying.

Ernesto Yeboah noted further in the post that these words from the Regional Police Commander are a sign of “disrespect for citizens’ rights and shameless contempt [for] the rule of law”.

He, therefore, called on the people of Ghana to condemn the action of DCOP Adu-Anim.

“All right-thinking people must rise up and condemn what is happening in this country,” Ernesto Yeboah said. “We are citizens. We have rights. This is truly shameful.”

The Public Order Act 1994, (Act 491)

This is not the first time the police have confronted civilians over the right to demonstrate, permit or notice, and all the arguments in between. An expose on the Public Order Act will therefore not be out of place. Section 1(1) of the Public Order Act states: “Any person who desires to hold any special event within the meaning of this Act in any public place shall notify the police of his intention not less than 5 days before the date of the special event.”

It continues in Subsection (2) and (3): “The notification shall be in writing and signed by or on behalf of the organisers of the special event and shall specify – (a) the place and hour of the special event, (b) the nature of the special event; (c) the time of commencement; (d) the proposed route and destination, if any; and (e) proposed time of closure of the event. (3) The notification shall be submitted to a police officer not below the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police or other police officer responsible for the nearest police station to the location of the proposed special event.”

Subsection (4) and (5) of the Act further indicated: “Where a police officer notified of a special event under subsection (1) has reasonable grounds to believe that the special event if held may lead to violence or endanger public defence, public order, public safety, public health or the running of essential services or violate the rights and freedoms of other persons, he may request the organisers to postpone the special event to any other date or to the relocate the special event.

“An organiser requested under subsection (4) to postpone or relocate the holding of a special ever shall within forty-eight hours of the request, notify the police officer in writing of his willingness to comply.”

Read below the full post of Ernesto Yeboah.