in Libya even though police say no

A group committed to the fight in Libya, dubbed US/ NATO hands off Libya/ hands off Africa Coalition will be embarking on a demonstration to state their opposition to the US bombing of Libya come Wednesday, September 21, 2011 in Accra. The group, made up of a number of other Pan-African improvement organisations will be marching through some principal streets in Accra to the US Embassy, where they will march round the Embassy and the leaders will read their petitions to the demonstrators. However, the police have refused to grant permission for the demonstration to be carried out. Sekou Mwanza Nkrumah, a leading member of the Pan-African group told Xfm 95.1 in an interview that the Greater Accra Regional Commander, Rose Bio-Atinga has on two occasions expressed her opposition to the demonstration.

³We put in two notices. I was in the office of the regional commander who expressed her opposition to the demonstration. I felt it was unjust. In the first place, I felt that it was wrong how she addressed us. She said the area over there belonged to America. That she went to the Embassy and sat down with them, and they told her in no unequivocal terms that they do not want us to come near that embassy; and that the area over there is little America. And I told her, I thought this was Ghana; our country².

³The other thing that took me back: she said, don¹t challenge me, and don¹t go over there because if you do, you are going to receive sniper fire and burns². This notwithstanding, Sekou Mwanza Nkrumah says the group will go ahead with the demonstration, describing the opposition from the police force as a ³trashing of justice² since both the constitution and Public Order Act make provision for citizens to demonstrate. He says, ³we still are going to go; if Gaddafi and the masses of Libya can face the bombing from America, this is child¹s play. We are going there with a full force in a peaceful way to demonstrate and exercise our rights as Ghanaians².