Police disperse demonstrators in Sunyani with tear gas

Police fired uncontrolled tear gas to disperse demonstrators in the Brong-Ahafo Regional capital on Thursday, after the about 300 workers joined their colleagues in the Trades Union Congress (TUC)’s nationwide demonstration.

Though personnel detailed by the Regional Police Command to maintain law and order during the demonstration which lasted for about two hours, out-numbered the protestors, they had to fire a number of tear gases to disband them.

The melee started around 09300 hours, when the police retrained the movements of the demonstrators who intended to join the regional leadership of the TUC to present a petition to the Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister.

Unable to control the increasing crowd, the police started firing tear gas to scare the demonstartors who were marching to the Regional administration.

But the situation worsened when the demonstrators started peddling stones on the police personnel.

“You must try and find somewhere to hide because you can be hurt”, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Patrick Adusei Sarpong, Deputy Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Commander told reporters.

In the course of the uproar, which happened in front of the Sunyani main post office area, the police arrested a number of the demonstrators who were in red and black apparel with red head and arm bands.

Earlier, the protestors who held placards with inscriptions such as “no imposition of pension trust”, “Mr President check the corruption”, Reduce tax”, “give us subsidy” and “Mr President save out jobs” paraded through some principal streets of the Sunyani Municipality.

In a petition jointly signed by representatives of the TUC, CLOSSAG, ICU, GNAT, CCT and GRNA, the labour unions asked government to take immediate action to halt the depreciation of the cedi and the rising cost of living.

The petitioned, read by Mr Joseph Ankomah, Brong-Ahafo Regional Secretary of the TUC, called for the downward review of prices of petroleum products.

While calling on government to revamp the railway sector, the petition further recommended an effective policy measures to ensure that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) operated at full capacity.

(GNA)