Chiefs And People Of Manya Krobo Banned From Demonstrating Against EC

Koforidua High Court has banned the Chiefs and
people of Manya Krobo from going on their planned
demonstration on Tuesday March 3, 2015 against
the Electoral Commission.
The restraining order which was served on three
respondents including Nene Asada Ahor I, Chief of
Akuse and PRO of the Manya Krobo Traditional
Council with suit number D16/117/2015 and
signed by Philip Yekple, Registrar of the Court has
prohibited the demonstration or any such activity
in the Krobo area from 1st to 15th March, 2015.
No reason has however been given by the Police or
the Court for the restraining order.
The Chiefs and people were gearing up to pour on
the street to, in their words, defend the
Constitution of the Republic and draw public and
national attention to the institutional impunity on
the part of the electoral commission(EC) which was bending the laws to
illegally conduct the assembly elections in the
Natriku electoral area at Akuse under the Shai
Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region
instead of the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of
the Eastern Region. This according to the people
was a clear breach of the 1992 Constitution and a
disregard for the Supreme Court’s judgment on the
issue.
Until the service of the Restraining Order by the
Court on Saturday February 28, 2015, which the
people consider a repressive tactic by the state
apparatus to silence them and to deny them their
rights to demonstrate, tension was mounting in the
area with the various chiefs rallying their subjects
to join the youth in Tuesday’s street protest.
Spokesperson for Kloma Gbi, Hilary Saki Kodji said
“We find it strange why we should be prevented by
the Police without justification from exercising our
constitutional rights. All the same, we will respect
the Court because we are law-abiding; we will
push the date for the demonstration further but the
agitation continues aggressively and we will be
bold in doing this until someone gives us a
listening ear or the issue is logically resolved”.
Meanwhile the people look forward to get feedback from both government and the EC as the supreme court has ordered the EC to restart the whole process.