The Centre for National Affairs (CNA) says it is “deeply worried” over a recent directive by the Ghana Police Service to ban all forms of demonstration and any mass activity that would require protection from the police. “Such statements are threats to the integrity and the professional competence of the Ghana Police Service in particular and other state security set-ups,” a statement signed by Richard Rocky Obeng, Senior Policy Analyst of the group has said. It said by the directive suggests Ghana is faced with security threat and “that the Ghana Police Service doubts it own competence to combine a simple security task of maintaining law and order at Ghana’s Supreme Court and managing demonstrations”. According to the statement, history would attest that demonstrations in Ghana clearly points to the fact that Ghanaians have in recent years remained responsible and have managed demonstrations much better than a lot of countries around the world. It said the development should at least build confidence in the Ghanaian Police Service to devise a much friendly attitude and approach to persons or groups that want to express their grievances through demonstrations. “We therefore, find this directive from the Ghana police administration unfortunate and a more serious threat to our democracy and the people’s right to freedom of expression. We appeal to the Inspector-General of the Ghana Police Service and the entire leadership to rescind their decision and revoke this directive with immediate effect.”