The organizers of the #OccupyBoGdemo have threatened to hold countless protests if the governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Ernest Addison, and his deputies fail to step down.
They made this known at the ongoing protest organized by the minority Members of Parliament (MPs) and some other groups over what they describe as mismanagement of the central bank.
The protestors are accusing Dr Addison and his deputies of gross mismanagement of the central bank, citing the over GHc60 billion loss by the BoG as the basis for their call for their resignation.
Some of the MPs present at the protest include Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Mahama Ayariga, Francis-Xavier Sosu, Cletus Avoka, Clement Apaak, and Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, as well as some national executives of the NDC.
Clement Apaak, the deputy ranking member on the education committee, explained to Citi News how the losses incurred by the BoG could have saved the education sector.
“We are here because we want a public expression of the disappointment by the management of the Bank of Ghana and with this we are calling on the Governor of the BoG to resign and he has failed to do so. And we think that we have to lead this prominent protest to tell Ghanaians of our dissatisfaction with the incompetence in the management of the BoG,” he said.
National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, also addressed the protestors in the early hours of the protest, stating: “If you allow a security zone to become a haven for criminals, we have a right to declare that security zone a crime scene and we have a right to chase those criminals. We are not going there to fight anyone. We are only taking the petition to the one we have assigned to work for us but if you say that place is a security zone, then you will have to arrest all of us.
“So we are going, we don’t want any fights but we are only enjoying our rights in this democratic country. But if we are trying to sack the people we pay who are still stealing from us then we will have to blame you the security personnel.”
The protestors are marching from Obra Spot through Adabraka, Ridge roundabout, National Theatre traffic light, high court complex traffic light, and Atta Mills high street. They will then make a U-turn at the National Lottery traffic light and end the protest at Independence Square.
However, minority leader Cassiel Ato Forson has insisted that the leaders of the protest must be given access to the premises of the Bank of Ghana to present their petition.
“We will take a U-turn on the John Evans Atta Mills high street in front of the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and when we get there we will cry for Kwame Nkrumah’s body to understand that the Ghana he left behind had been messed up. And when we get there demonstration will end there,” he said.
“But when we get there the leaders of the demonstration will have to be given the opportunity to present the petition to the governor himself, Addison the printer else we will not close the demonstration today. So we want the police service to be aware and prepare the Governor to receive the petition.”
