FixTheCountry protestors, who are calling on Parliament to reject the 2022 budget statement were stopped from entering the premises of Parliament to present their petition.
The protestors had massed up at the Tema Station near the Hockey Pitch in Accra and marched through some principal streets through to the Parliament House to present a petition to the legislative arm of government.
But upon arrival, the demonstrators met an armed Police wall mounted at the gate, stopping the protestors from entering the premises of Parliament.
The protestors begun singing the National anthem and the national youth anthem whiles their leaders engaged the Police.
The Police had said only five leaders of the Protestors will be allowed into the premises.
But the #FixTheCountry protestors also insisted that they had agreed with the IGP in a meeting that protestors will have access to the premises of Parliament to present their petition.
National spokesperson for the Economic Fighters League Nii Aryee Opara Bey explained that during the meeting with the IGP, they agreed the protestors will only have access to the premises of Parliament if they come with less than 500 people, which compelled them to reduce their numbers.
He questioned why the Ghana Police Service could not stand by the agreement and described it as a set up by the Police to brutalize innocent citizens.
This resulted in a standoff between the Police and the protestors until leaders from both the Majority and Minority sides intervened.
The leaders after some back-and-forth with organizers of the protest agreed that 10 members of the demonstrators will be allowed into the premises to submit the petition.
After consulting with the other protestors, the demonstrators also rejected the offer that 10 of their members should go and present the petition insisting that all of them must enter.
At this point, both the Majority and Minority leaders decided to leave and directed the Parliamentary Police unit to bring in 10 of the protestors to present the petition but the demonstrators as at press time still insisted they did not have leaders and all of them must go in.
more soon…
