Movement For Change stage demo in Kumasi (photos)
A pressure group, Movement For Change (MFC), is poised to stage a demonstration against the government in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi, today over the “incessant energy crisis and its adverse effects on all sectors of the economy in the region.”
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The demonstration, dubbed: “Ye abre,” which literary means “We are tired,” follows the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) “Won Gbo” demonstration which took place in the nation’s capital, Accra, last Wednesday, February 18, 2015.
The demonstration will begin from State Boys MA JHS through some principal streets of Kumasi and end at Abbey’s Park, Ashanti New Town, Kumasi.
The demonstrators are expected to present their petition to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who has promised to receive the demonstrators in good faith and act on their concerns accordingly.
A release made available to the Daily Graphic and jointly signed by executive members of the group, including the Executive Chairman, Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare; Director of Operations, Odeneho Kwaku Appiah; Director of Strategy, Kwabena Nsenkyire, and Communication Director, Henry Nana Boakye (NanaBee), said the demonstration would also be against “unemployment and high cost of living in the region.”
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Demonstration
Meanwhile, the planned demonstration by the Organised Youth Ashanti (OYA), an affiliate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), scheduled for yesterday, Tuesday, February 24, 2015, was called off.
Initially, the demonstration date coincided with that of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Kumasi.
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This coincidence generated a lot of heated debate on radio stations sparking fear of a clash between the two rival parties. But through the ingenuity of the Regional Police Commander, DCOP Nathan Kofi Boakye, the NPP agreed to move theirs a day ahead.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Ashanti Regional Youth Organiser of the NDC, Mr Brogya Genfi said, “We have called off our planned procession for security reasons. We will give the full details at a press conference tomorrow.”
Although OYA has cancelled the demonstration, the Regional Police Command insists it was unaware of it.
He explained that the regional command had prepared adequately for the two demonstrations by the NDC and NPP yesterday and today respectively.
Both the NDC and the NPP claimed they were the first to submit their letter to the Ashanti Regional Police for their planned demonstration.
The NDC’s demonstration was meant to commend President John Dramani Mahama for flooding the region with development projects, while that of their counterparts, the NPP, was to express their abhorrence for the recent power crisis and the economic challenges.