The #FixTheCountry campaigners have written to the Ghana Police Service to notify the law enforcement body of their intention to demonstrate on 9 May 2021 against hardships in the country.

The conveners of the demonstration include Oliver Mawuse Barker-Vormawor, Felicity Nelson, Efia Odo, Samuel Alesu-Dordzi, Della Russel Ocloo, Joshua Boye-Doe, Bashoratu Kamal-Muslim, Agyapong Forster, Adatsi Brownson and Benjamin Darko.

They are being supported by a host of stars and celebrities on social media.

The group said in its letter to the police that the event, which is a “single-purpose” one, “is being organised on the back of a string of consistently broken promises by successive governments; and in the exercise of our democratic rights as citizens to express our frustration over perennial governmental incompetence, refusal, and/or inability to fix the country”.

The organisers said they believe, “as does the president, that democracy is not a spectator sport”, adding: “We are committed to improving the substance of governance in this country by ensuring that the ordinary voices of Ghanaians provide a mechanism to hold elected officials accountable”. 

“There comes a point where enough is enough. Just fix the Country!!! That’s our only message. We have had it with purposeful deceit and the absence of truth and genuine accountability in how this country is being governed”, the group said.

The letter explained that it chose 9 May because “it captures the restless spirit of over 126 Ghanaians who lost their lives in the May 9 Accra Sports Stadium disaster due to institutionalised incompetence and disregard for Ghanaian lives” and “secondly, the protest commemorates the 26-anniversary of the Kume Preko Demonstration of 11 May 1995.”

“Thus, the event draws inspiration from the undying culture of protest and dissent that have forged our democracy, and which Kume Preko has become a synonym for in our collective memory.”

They intend to march from the Black Star Square Accra to Maxmart at 37.

Meanwhile, Danquah Institute founder Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has said “no patriot can say he or she is against a clarion call to fix our country”.

According to him, “after 64 years, we have have run out of excuses”.

“Let’s get it fixed and fixed now! Together we can!” he said on social media.

Demands for better governance and accountability from the government are gaining momentum on social media in Ghana.

Especially on Twitter, Ghanaians are championing #FixTheCountry campaigns to draw attention to problems such as unemployment, poor health systems, poor road networks, accommodation cost, cost of utility bills, erratic power and water supply and general cost of living among others.

With over 4,000 #FixTheCountry tweets curated in the last 48 hours, today, Tuesday, 4 May 2021, has been declared #BlackTuesday.

In response to the #FixTheCountry campaign, a counter-hashtag #FixYourself has also been trending.