Opposition protests over economic policy

ACCRA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Several thousand activists from a coalition of five Ghanaian opposition parties demonstrated against the government's economic policy on Thursday, bringing part of the capital Accra to a standstill, witnesses said.

The protest, watched by hundreds of police with riot shields and truncheons, passed off peacefully.

``The government has pursued and implemented World Bank and International Monetary Fund economic prescriptions over the past decade that have proved not only unrealistic but also dehumanising,'' opposition activist Kwaku Baako told Reuters.

The leaders of the five opposition parties presented a petition to parliament, calling for ``better accountability, greater democracy and better protection for Ghanaians.''

Marching to brass band music, the demonstrators carried banners calling for President Jerry Rawlings to resign.

Ghana holds presidential and parliamentary elections at the end of 2000. ``Come next year there will be a change of government,'' one marcher told BBC radio.

The protesters demanded that the government abandon plans to increase value added tax, suspend public sector layoffs and layoffs associated with privatisations.

The government has proposed tax hikes and public spending cuts to compensate for falling revenues from commodity exports -- notably gold and cocoa.

A World Bank official said on Wednesday that international donors had pledged $1.7 billion to Ghana for 2000/2001 to support the government's stabilisation and reform plan.