Tuesday, 22 October

Akufo-Addo gov't offered us money, appointments so we stop organising protests – Barker-Vormawor

News
#FixTheCountry Movement convener Oliver Barker-Vormawor

#FixTheCountry Movement convener Oliver Barker-Vormawor has alleged that the Akufo-Addo government, through National Security Minister Albert Kan Dapaah offered him money and an appointment so he could stop his activism against the government.

He told journalists on Friday, 22 September 2023, following his release from police custody after being arrested along with other fellow #OccupyJulorbiHouse demonstrators that "unknown to the government, we have recordings" of those meetings with Mr Kan Dapaah.

He said: "While I was in the UK, the National Security Minister called and invited me for a sit-down. The government offered to pay for my flight, in order to meet here in Ghana".

"This was something that was never disclosed to the public", he said, "but we met at a safe house for us to stop our activism," Mr Barker-Vormawor narrated.

"This was way before we started the first #FixTheCountry demonstration," he noted.

"We were offered not only money but appointments; and if we agreed to stop this, we were going to be free, but the most important thing was not to bring citizens onto the streets," he claimed.

He said: "When we rejected that, Kan Dapaah, the National Security Minister, said to my face that if we decide to continue on this course of action, we will be arrested."

"We will be dealt with and that it will be over his dead body any demonstrations will happen. At the time we were even in Supreme Court at the time," he said.

"So, I was not surprised that I was ultimately arrested by the government and continue being charged for treason," he said, adding: "For over two years now, the government has tried to prevent us from mobilising people."

Concerning the ongoing #OccupyJulorbiHouse demonstrations, Mr Barker-Vormawor said only the courageous should step out.

“If there’s anybody out there who is afraid for their lives, I implore them not to come, the purchase of our democracy should not be that people should lose their lives, in order to secure it. I don’t subscribe to that view. My belief is that those who have every faith in themselves and feel courage and the compulsion must step out. If it is five people, we are still going to be here,” he advised.

Source: classfmonline.com