Three persons arrested by Police as Chale Wote street art festival suffers Covid-19 effects
Two Chale Wote Street Art festival organizers arrested along with one artist
Lovers and enthusiasts of the annual street art festival, Chale Wote which for a decade now has taken the Ghanaian art space by storm seems to be coming to terms with the realities of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The decade long festival which many especially art lovers look up to every year has had its attendance hugely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Although it is early days yet, some of the artists who have turned out there to exhibit some of their amazing artworks are not enthused with their current situation as some visuals artists at this year’s festival have been arrested by the Police for not adhering to the public order act.
According to the Greater Accra Police Command the reason behind the arrest of two organizers, Mantse Ayikwei and Nii Aryee of the annual street art festival, ‘Chale Wote’, held at Jamestown in Accra on Saturday, August 21, 2021, was that they ignored an invitation for a meeting prior to the event, but had also breached the Public Order Act, which categorizes this ‘Chale Wote’ event as a special event.
Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police Command, DSP Juliana Obeng added that “The command sighted the advert for this festival and invited the organizers for a meeting, and I am told the organizers never turned up. So yesterday [Saturday], we picked intelligence to the effect that the organizers were already preparing the place for the event. The police then moved in to arrest the three persons.”
She revealed that the three are still in police custody and have only been cautioned with no charges against them yet while assuring they will not be held beyond the lawful 48 hours.
“No charges have been pressed against them yet, but they have been cautioned,” she added.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), had earlier announced that the 2021 edition of ‘Chale Wote’ will be a virtual event due to the increase in Covid-19 cases.
The ‘Chale Wote’ Street Art Festival is a Ghanaian-originated platform that brings together art, music, dance, and performance unto the streets to promote the appreciation of diverse forms of art in Ghana.
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
