The Accra Regional Police Command named him [Captain Smart] together with Okatakyie Afrifa Mensah, Benjamin Darko, and Oliver Barker-Vormawor in a letter they received notifying them of a planned three-day demonstration.
The group indicated that the demonstration was to start on Saturday, June 4, 2022, adding that they intended to contract a private security company to protect them.
“That the demonstrators and the contracted private security personnel will be armed with weapons.
“That the armed demonstrators will picket at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and the Ghana Police Headquarters.
“That at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), they will demand to speak directly to the nation on GTV and layout their grievances,” the police said in their statement indicating that they cannot ‘shepherd’ such a demonstration.
Reacting to this on 3FM on Wednesday, June 1, Captain Smart denied knowledge of the said letter and its content.
According to him, he never signed such a letter and charged the police to arrest and deal with whoever was behind the letter.
“Yes, we want the right things to be done, things are not right in this country, but I don’t support violence and not in any way will I, want to have a blade in my hand to demonstrate; we did the first demonstration without even a stick… whoever wrote that letter is sick,” he stated.
“…and then if I am a convener and you want to write a letter on behalf of all the conveners, courtesy demands that at least let me know the content of the letter you are sending on our behalf,” Smart added.
But it has emerged that, Captain Smart was privy to the contents of the letter that the members of the #FixTheCountry Movement sent to the police.
GhanaWeb sighted a WhatsApp screenshot between one of the protest leaders, Oliver Barker-Vormawor and Captain Smart.
Barker-Vormawor, who was the one who wrote the letter on behalf of his colleagues had sent the pdf soft copy of the letter to Captain Smart on WhatsApp, with the letter saved as “Notice to the Police”.
Barker-Vormawor wrote, “Captain, this is the notice to the police.”
Captain Smart replied, “Great”.
Oliver Barker-Vormawor followed up with a need for amendment: “hold on, I have decided to add more things to make it more scary.”
Then, Captain Smart replied, “Ok boss.”
GhanaWeb, however, cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the said WhatsApp conversation screenshot shared by Oliver Barker-Vormawor.
Background
#FixTheCountry served a notice to the Police on their decision to embark on a demonstration against the Agyapa deal, cessation of the Achimota Forest Reserve and to press home the need to protect the sanctity of the country’s security.
In their notice, they requested to be allowed to contract private security personnel to protect the demonstrators.
Among other things, they also notified the Police that the demonstrators and the contracted private security personnel will be armed with weapons.
Also, they stated that the armed demonstrators will picket at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and the Ghana Police Headquarters.
At GBC, they will demand to speak directly to the nation on GTV and layout their grievances.
But the Police in a statement noted that they are unable to provide security for a demonstration which is in flagrant violation of the Public Order Act, 1994 (Act 49) and has the potential to result in a breach of public order and public safety.
According to the Police, they have reached out to the organisers to reconsider their proposal and work with the Police towards the organisation of a lawful, peaceful and successful demonstration.
“We wish to assure the public that in the interest of public safety and security, the Police are putting in place all necessary measures to ensure that unauthorised persons do not march on the streets with weapons.”
