NDC planned 'demo' in doubt?

The much publicized march for survival dubbed "kafo didi" planned by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and slated for the Garden City, Kumasi, on 2 September, may not come off after all, following police indications not to grant the permit because President John Kufuor will be visiting the city the same day.

The General-Secretary of the NDC, Dr Josiah Aryeh, who disclosed this to the "Evening News" newspaper said in the few past days the state security apparatus, the police and the government have tried to frustrate and prevent the "demonstration."

He explained that the principal reason for this was that the President might be in Kumasi the same time when the march was being held. He explained that the police told the party that the demonstration might endanger the President's security.

Dr Ayeh said the NDC maintained that the explanation by the police was untenable because President Kufuor and the Vice-President were in Accra, when the NDC held the march in Accra, which went within a few hundred metres away from the Osu Castle with the Osu Castle without threatening them.

He said since the march would be along well-defined routes, in outlined areas, there was no basis for the security reasons for the police were giving. The General-Secretary noted that the police and the government had a fundamental responsibility to facilitate the exercise of constitutional freedom.

"They cannot abdicate that responsibility and hide behind the fig leaf of the President's visit," he stressed.