Court Fines 10 Demonstrators Ghc 288,000 for Flouting Covid-19 Ban

Ten persons who embarked on a demonstration at Nima on May 5, in defiance of the public gatherings ban, have been fined a total of Gh¢288,000 by an Accra Circuit Court.

They were convicted for violating the ban on mass gatherings as stipulated in Executive Instrument (E.I 64) to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Yahaya Alhassa, Bassarou Moaro, Alhassan Arafat, Abdul Gafa, Anim Emmanuel, Issaka Mutakiru, Zakari Salisu, Abdulai Yahaya and Mohammed Amin were part of a group, numbering up to 50, who went on the demonstration. 

Each of the accused persons will pay GH¢28,800 and in default serve four years in prison.

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They pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy to commit crime, failure to notify the police of desire to hold special event and failure to comply with restrictions imposed on public gathering in contravention of E.I 64 and the Imposition of Restrictions Act, 2020 (Act 1012).

They were convicted on their own plea by the court, presided over by Mrs Susana Eduful on Wednesday, June 3, 2020.

Per Section 6 of Act 1012, “a person who fails to comply with the restrictions imposed under the Executive Instrument issued under subsection 1 of Section 2 commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than 1,000 penalty unit (Gh¢12,000) and not more than 5,000 penalty units (Gh¢ 60,000) or to a term of imprisonment not less than four years and not more than 10 years or to both.”

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SOURCE: Graphiconline