The lead organizer of the ‘Hands Off our Hotels’ demonstration, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has expressed his disappointment with the police over their treatment of some of the demonstrators.
The police stopped the demonstrators, who were protesting the sale of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) hotels, midway through their march on Tuesday, June 19. Instead of the agreed endpoint at Christ The King, they were stopped midway on the Switchback Road in Cantonments, Accra. This led to confusion between the protesters and the police, resulting in the police spraying pepper spray on some protesters.
Hundreds of demonstrators thronged some principal streets in La to register their displeasure with the sale of the Labadi Beach Hotel. The main objective of the protest was to exert pressure on the government to immediately halt the proposed sale of a 60 percent stake in four prominent hotels owned by SSNIT to Rock City Hotel.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, submitted a formal petition to the government, demanding an immediate halt to the sale of four hotels owned by SSNIT to Rock City Hotel, which is owned by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Bryan Acheampong. However, before the petition was submitted, the police stopped the demonstrators midway through their march.
Instead of the agreed endpoint at Christ The King, they were stopped midway on Switchback Road in Cantonments, Accra. The organizer of the ‘Hands Off our Hotels’ demonstration, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, expressed his disappointment with the police.
The petition articulated a series of demands, calling upon President Akufo-Addo to immediately halt the sale process. The North Tongu lawmaker noted that the sale of state properties has historically not served Ghana’s best interests and insisted that such transactions should not proceed without the collective consent of Ghanaians.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Obed King Gaglo
