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Full details of what OccupyJulorbiHouse is about

Socrates Shika 1 year ago

A lot of people are asking, “what’s the OccupyJulorbiDemo about?” Let’s break it down for you.

Julorbi is a deliberate misspelling of Jubilee House, Ghana’s seat of government.

Julorbi is a Ga word which means child of a thief.

This hashtag was coined by Democracy Hub, an Accra-based civil society group to help seek reforms in the country.

The reasons for the protest includes:

The economic mismanagement by the incumbent government
Corruption scandals which are not addressed but swept under the carpet
Ineffective health-care system in Ghana
Countless human rights abuse that have occurred under the current government and the previous ones
Abuse of power and authority by those Ghanaians have selected to lead them as a people.

The protest was supposed to come off on 21st September, 2023, which is symbolic because it marks the birthday of Kwame Nkrumah, who fought for Ghana’s independence. However, what was supposed to be a peaceful protest was disrupted as police men came in their numbers and arrested all those who happened to be at the convergence point and even arrested innocent bystanders whose only crimes were that they happened to be in a black or red outfit.

There were reports of people being beaten up and phones being seized so that there won’t be evidence of occurrences. Journalists and lawyers were not left out of this maltreatment by the police whose primary mandate is to serve and protect with integrity.

The protest continues today with full force as the spirits of Ghanaians refuses to be let down by the activities of yesterday.

The fight for a better Ghana is a collective effort that requires unity, determination and the active participation of every citizen.

Credit: SikaOfficial

Below is the account by a lawyer who was arrested by the Police

Yesterday, I went to provide assistance to protestors who had been illegally arrested for attempting to exercise their right to demonstrate.

We saw police officers, initially about 5 and later 10, attack a Metro TV journalist called Vanessa for taking a video of police officers who were assaulting innocent civilians.

I intervened and tried to stop them from attacking the journalist. Interestingly, they rather turned on me, physically attacked and arrested me. While some kicked me, others used belt and another bit me.

They locked me up for hours just for doing my work as a Lawyer.

I’d like to thank Justice Srem Sai and Hon. Inusa Fuseini who ensured my release yesterday.

This is an indication of what 2024 will be; a government that is willing to use state apparatus to maintain political power and our party must prepare for that.

Source: Today.com.gh