Security Analyst Advises Police To Prepare For More Protests As Elections Draw Near
- Security analyst Adib Saani has warned the Ghana Police Service to enhance how it handles protests as the 2024 election draws near
- He said with tensions very high, it was very likely that there were going to be even more protests from citizens in the coming months
- Saani also warned those calling for a Kenyan-style demonstration to happen in Ghana to 'disabuse their minds of those fantasies'
Security analyst Adib Saani has warned the Ghana Police Service to prepare for more protests as the 2024 general elections draw near.
He was reacting to the recent OccupyJulorbiHouse demonstration organised by Democracy Hub, which called on the government to act swiftly against the illegal mining menace (galamsey).
Source: UGC
The demonstration had led to the arrest of over 50 protesters, who have since been remanded into police custody for two weeks by an Accra Circuit Court.
While some have praised the police for their professionalism during the protest, many more have criticised the Police Service for their ‘unlawful’ arrests and detention of the protesters, citing several fundamental human rights infringements.
Adib Saani, who agrees with some of the sentiments shared by critics of the Ghana Police Service, told YEN.com.gh that the police must prepare to handle even larger crowds as the elections draw nearer.
Security analyst: Ghanaian police must prepare
He noted that it was counterproductive for either the protesters or the police to breach agreed-upon protocols on the protest grounds and incite trouble during a protest.
“I mean, it's within their right to protest. There's absolutely nothing intrinsically wrong with that. But, of course, it has to be done with recourse to the law.
“When you agree with the police in principle on the modalities, the routes you are going to use, when you are going to have it and all that, and you get to the ground and change, either from the side of the protesters or the police, it creates a bit of a problem.
“So the only threat I see is some of these protests becoming violent and probably someone dying as a result.
“And I think that would be cataclysmic to the security of the state as we get towards the elections, which is proving to be a very decisive one because that is what is going to prove whether we have arrived as a fully-fledged, consolidated democracy or we are still experimenting.
“But the tensions are high, and these demonstrations would continue,” Saani concluded.
Adib Saani says no to Kenyan-style protest
Saani also warned that protesters who may fantasise about holding a Kenyan-style protest in the country should disabuse themselves of that notion.
He stated that just as the Kenyan protest caused some protesters to lose their lives amid the destruction of public property, the same could happen in Ghana.
“I see some who draw inspiration from other countries, such as Kenya, and were even calling for a Kenyan-like demonstration in Ghana, which I think was unfortunate because we wouldn't want a situation where public property would be destroyed and people losing their lives.
“And so that shouldn't be countenanced whatsoever. So it is up to the security services to put their act together and to prepare for more of these protests,” he advised.
Police accused of conducting unlawful arrests
YEN.com.gh also reported that Democracy Hub had accused the Ghana Police Service of unlawfully arresting and detaining 46 protesters.
The group stated that police had prevented lawyers from reaching those arrested and had refused to reveal where they were being detained.
Some social media users have described the police's alleged actions as kidnapping and have demanded the protesters be released urgently.
Proofread by Bruce Douglas, senior copy editor at YEN.com.gh
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Source: YEN.com.gh
