Ghanaian activist: A popular Ghanaian social activist who led protests against the government of President Nana Akufo-Addo has been arrested after making comments on social media about plotting a coup, police said on Saturday.
Barker-Vormawor posted on social media that he will stage a coup if Parliament passes a controversial bill, popularly known as the E-Levy.
The bill proposes a 1.75% tax on electronic transactions, including mobile money payments.
“If this E-Levy passes… I will do the hitting myself. Useless army!” Barker-Vormawor said in a series of Facebook posts.
“The post contained a clear statement of intent with a possible willingness to execute a coup in its statement of intent to subvert the constitution of the Republic of Ghana,” police said in a statement.
He is expected to be arraigned in court on Monday.
A police spokesman said the activist was being questioned to decide the formal charges he will face in court.
Akufo-Addo’s second term has been marked by a series of protests over economic problems and brawls in parliament, which has no majority, as the government tries to push through tough policies it believes could save the ailing economy.
The hashtag #FixTheCountry, which became a popular social media protest on Twitter in Ghana, later became a lobby group supported by the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to organize street protests.
In January last year, soldiers were forced into the Ghanaian parliament to break up fights between rival lawmakers who disagreed over the results of the election that gave Akufo-Addo victory.
Ghana is often lauded as a stable democracy in volatile West Africa, though the 2021 election was marred by accusations of fraud by the opposition and five people were killed in violence.