Ghanaians have been asked to wear red attires today in a campaign dubbed ‘The Red Friday’ aimed at forcing government to address concerns raised in the ‘Occupy Flagstaff House’ petition.

The organisers of the two protests, the Concerned Ghanaians for Responsible Governance (CGRG), are also asking Ghanaians to comment on the state of economy on social media using the hashtag ‘Red Friday.’

A statement issued by the group and signed by its secretary,  George Kojo Anti, said “Concerned Ghanaians for Responsible Government has decided that it will press on through a campaign of civic engagement and mobilization solely aimed at bringing more concerned Ghanaians together to spur the kind of action needed to reverse the rapidly deteriorating economic situation and to enhance the quality of political discourse.”

The 20-point petition of CGRG to President John Mahama listed among other problems, the erratic power supply, unpaid statutory funds, “unreliable supply of potable water across the country, the ever-depreciating value of the cedi, constant increases in taxes, inefficient revenue collection, poor road networks, constant increments in utility tariffs, frequent increase in the prices of petroleum products.

Below is the full statement on the Red Campaign from CGRG

Unable to continue to sit back and watch Ghana needlessly slide into economic disarray and the kind of national disgrace that typified the participation of our unique national asset, the Black Stars, in the World Cup, on Republic Day Tuesday, 1st July, 2014, we, the members of the non-partisan civil society group Concerned Ghanaians for Responsible Governance, stood up to demand better from our government. In doing so, we acted in the finest traditions of citizen engagement, believing that to be our right and duty.

In the petition we handed to presidential staffers on that day, we made very clear economic demands of the presidency. The demands were not new, but the issues they were to address have persisted beyond reasonable time, leading to a most probable conclusion that either the government has real capacity issues or simply unwilling to budge.

Concerned Ghanaians for Responsible Government has decided that it will press on through a campaign of civic engagement and mobilization solely aimed at bringing more concerned Ghanaians together to spur the kind of action needed to reverse the rapidly deteriorating economic situation and to enhance the quality of political discourse.

This Friday, July 11th, Concerned Ghanaians for Responsible Government will launch a new campaign called The RED Campaign – #REDFRIDAY. We plan to engage Ghanaians across the board through all appropriate media, with social media as a primary outreach vehicle. Each week, from Sunday to Thursday, the campaign will put out petition points and encourage their dissemination across major social media platforms and traditional media outlets. On Fridays, Ghanaians will be encouraged to join discussions on social media. It is important that Ghanaians using social media to participate in these discussions use the hash tags #redfriday and #occupyflagstaffhouse, as by doing so, it will be possible to gather important data for the campaign.

We will also encourage Ghanaians to wear the colour red on Fridays as the primary means of indicating solidarity with the campaign. Lastly, we encourage Ghanaians to post photos and videos of themselves in red engaged in this campaign, via the hash tags #redfriday #occupyflagstaffhouse. Please visit the Face book pages CONCERNED GHANAIANS FOR RESPONSIBLE GOVERNANCE or OCCUPY GHANA for more information.

Do not sit unconcerned. Arise and get involved. Ghana Deserves Better!

GOD BLESS OUR DEAR HOMELAND GHANA!!!

Thank you for your kind attention.

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Signed: George Kojo Anti Executive Secretary