Twenty-nine (29) people were arrested by the Ghana Police on Tuesday during a demonstration to protest the high cost of living in Accra.
An anti-cost of living demonstration turns violent in Accra. Ghanaians took to the streets in large numbers on Tuesday 28 June to express their frustration with the rising cost of living. Dressed in red and black, demonstrators held up signs that read: “Mr. President, where did we go wrong? or “The high cost of living is going to kill us”, putting President Nana Akufo-Addo under pressure.
Thus, according to information reported by AFP, the demonstration was announced to be peaceful. Unfortunately, some demonstrators deviated from the official route, only to be turned away by the police. Unhappy, the demonstrators threw projectiles. The police retaliate with tear gas.
In a message posted on Twitter, the Ghanaian police announced the arrest of 29 demonstrators and said that 12 police officers were injured. “What a shame, we were there to protect you and ensure your safety, but you throw stones at us,” she wrote. She later said that “the organisers of the demonstration will be arrested and brought before a court of law for attacking and damaging public property”.
It should also be noted that this is not the first time that Ghanaians have denounced soaring food and fuel prices. The protests come against a backdrop of post-Covid-19 economic recovery and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where inflation has reached its highest level in nearly two decades in the country.
