According to a report by GhanaWeb, Sosu talked about this on Neat FM on October 7, 2024. He asked, “What law has Barker-Vormawor broken by taking the ignition keys of a police vehicle during the protest?” Sosu thinks it’s important to look at what really happened. He pointed out, “For instance, if he took a police weapon, that would have constituted an offense. We need to properly contextualise the issue. What happened after he took the keys? Did the police not find the keys after the incident?”
The protest Barker-Vormawor was part of lasted for three days. It was meant to show how bad illegal mining is and to ask the government to do something about it quickly. But now, Barker-Vormawor and 52 other people are in trouble with the law. They’ve been charged with many things, like planning together to do something illegal, meeting up when they shouldn’t have, breaking things, acting in a way that could cause trouble, attacking police officers, and writing on public property. An Accra High Court said Barker-Vormawor can’t get out on bail.
This story shows that there’s a lot of talk in Ghana about protests and what people are allowed to do. Some people, like Sosu, think that taking car keys isn’t a big deal. But the police and courts seem to think differently. They’ve charged Barker-Vormawor and others with serious crimes.
The protest was about illegal mining, which is a big problem in Ghana. It hurts the environment and takes away resources from the country. The people who were protesting wanted to make sure everyone knows about this problem. They hoped the government would do more to stop it.
