The Ghana Police Service has filed an injunction at an Accra High Court to prevent the #DumsorMustStop demonstration from taking place.
This comes days after the Accra Region Police Command urged the organisers to consider relocating the planned protest venue.
The organisers were also told to adjust the timing for the upcoming demonstration scheduled for Saturday, May 25, 2024.
However, in the fresh motion filed on May 20, the police requested the court to order the organisers to halt the event entirely.
In a meeting at the Regional Police Headquarters on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, discussions centered on notifying the public about an upcoming protest and assessing its potential impact on public order and safety.
The police raised concerns about the planned location, Revolution Square, due to its close proximity to the Jubilee House, the seat of government, which is designated as a security zone.
Acknowledging the potential risks to public defense, order, and safety, the command recommended moving the protest to Independence Square.
Additionally, the command expressed concerns about the proposed conclusion time of midnight for the protest. They warned that this timing could undermine security measures and increase tensions, potentially leading to violence. Consequently, they advised the protest organizers to adjust the protest’s end time accordingly.
This event is expected to be the second time Ghanaians rally around a united cry against erratic power supply.
In 2015, a similar demonstration was held against the power crisis that had gripped the country in the past at the time.
It was organised by some Ghanaian celebrities including Yvonne Nelson to reiterate the fact that the power crisis was impacting negatively on production and putting people out of business, while derailing national progress.
The demonstrators, numbering more than 2,000 began from the Legon Overhead Bridge and moved down close to the Total Filling Station which sits adjacent to the university, but the police urged the leaders to move further ahead from the filling station, since some of the protestors were holding lighted ‘bobo’.
‘Bobo’ is a local lamp made from empty cans filled with kerosene, with a little tunnel at the top from which an absorbent twine protrudes that is lighted.
The police congregated at the starting point more than two hours before the announced time for the demonstration which was 4pm.
