Leader of the Democracy Hub demonstration, Oliver Barker-Vormawor has said he will not stop embarking on his advocacy for a better life for Ghanaians.
He says he cannot understand why poverty in Ghanaian society has not been reduced drastically.
Speaking in an interview with TV3’s Kemini Amanor on Wednesday, October 23, “It repays my enduring faith in the Ghanaian spirit that eventually despite all the fear that people tell us every day that they harbour that there will come a time when they will stand up for justice and I have always bet my life on that and when people tell me are you not retired? I am never tired of believing that the Ghanaians will show up, I think they did show up and they will show up for the young people.
Asked whether he is not tired of his advocacy, her said “I do not understand why our society has not been able to find a way to solve poverty, I don’t understand why we as a society can watch our environment being pillaged to this level and everybody will say ‘ I am only thinking of myself I do not want to get involved’. It doesn’t seem right to me. The demand for dignity we cannot be tired of this. Perhaps it has been a difficulty in adjusting because the greater part of my life I spent out of the country and I have seen over 100, 000 people protesting even if they are treated better than we are… I can’t seem to accept that I must live a life where my humanity and dignity must be denied. , that I must go to a prison where everybody doesn’t eat I say its ok, this is how it is done.”
Regarding the recently-held demonstration by Democracy Hub against illegal small-scale mining (Galamsney), he accused the Police of deliberately churning out sensational videos as quickly as possible during their demonstration to feed into their own narrative of what was happening on the grounds.
He accused the police of deliberately churning out isolated cases of what they describe as violent during their protest, repeated to create an impression that several acts of violence took place.
Barker-Vormawor who has been granted bail in the sum of ¢20,000 on Wednesday, October 16, after three unsuccessful attempts said “The first day the protest happened without incident the Police kept issuing statements upon statements that we were being violent. When they did that we showed them pictures and videos of people playing football, they were trying to condition the atmosphere to use the violent video. One of the things that happens in many protests and it happened in the ‘kumepreko’ is when violence is used in a manner they use it, it detracts from the conversation of what the issue is. Protesters do not go out and say we want to be violent towards you we are very set on the conversation we want to have. Even when they [Police] have been brutal against protesters when the press covers it they don’t say Police beat protesters they say police clash with protesters. So the language creates a sense of whether we are meeting them with violence and that becomes the scope of the conversation.
“There are two videos on loop, the video of me taking the key, not attacking anybody, yes we had imobilised the vehicle, we owned that to our chest, and then when they had individuals lined up pushing back at one person they had those videos on loop consistently, you will not see 54 isolated incidents of people assaulting police. The Police had their own camera people and their action was that let us churn out sensational videos as quickly as possible and get people rounded up but we were setting that cooler heads would eventually prevail and it did prevail.”
Mr Barker-Vormawor was arrested during a demonstration against illegal mining, locally known as galamsey, which has caused severe environmental damage in Ghana.
According to police reports, Mr Barker-Vormawor was apprehended for engaging in unlawful activities during the protest, although specific details of his alleged misconduct are still under investigation.
One of the incidents that led to his arrest was his removal of the keys from a police van parked at the protest site.
