#DumsorMustStop: to be or not to be?
The last two weeks has been fireworks on the entertainment scene, has it not? What with all the hullabaloo going on about the planned vigil by some showbiz people and the attendant wrangling, rebuttals and uneasiness in the corridors of power.
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There is no denying the fact that we have, as a country, been in a very terrible situation of power – or lack of it thereof – for almost three years now.
There have been some very terrible personal and business implications in the realm of uneasiness during this period.
Lack of constant electricity had been a terrible nightmare for almost everyone in this country and has affected practically every aspect of our national life to a far extent. No one can claim that the colloquially termed “Dumsor” situation has not affected them one way or the other.
Beside the implications on business and personal or domestic use, there have been reports of impact on social issues such as people losing their lives at hospitals because there was no electricity to carry out a procedure or it going off in the midst of one procedure or another.
Radio stations have been closing down at midnight in their bid to conserve fuel for efficient use during the day.
Though it started with stations within the Multimedia Group Limited, others took heed and elected to follow the trend.
After all, how many people listen to radio throughout the night that you spend so much energy to serve?
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The foregoing means that, regardless of where you may be, where you lie on the social ladder, what type of business you may be in, whether you work or school or are unemployed, you can never claim to have escaped the pangs that come as a result of Dumsor.
Assurances
In all these there have been assurances, promises, more assurances and more promises of a solution to the energy crisis. Every minister be they directly related to energy or power, the government communications teams as well as the President himself have given an assurance one time or the other that this was a temporary situation which would soon be resolved.
It has been three years and there seem to be no end in sight for something that started towards the end of 2012 and which we were told was caused by an act of God that broke the pipe from which we get gas from the West Africa Gas Pipeline.
People in the entertainment industry have also claimed to have had their fair share of the Dumsor debacle.
They claim that they are unable to produce music as they should because the studios are suffering from the situation, they cannot edit their movies as they would want to because of the same reason and their cost of production has shot up because they always have to make sure that there is generator and fueled on standby.
Show organisers have also complained about the extra cost the situation had brought on their business and the attendant need to pass those costs on to the final consumer, who in this case is the person who pays to attend shows.
Thus on May Day when the president addressed a parade of workers at the Independence Square in Accra and broadcast on television, he reiterated his stance that the situation was a permanent one and chipped in another assurance that it would soon be a thing of the past.
This apparently did not go down well with some people, especially some people in entertainment. Some of these people took to social media to express their misgivings about the situation and how it was having impact on them, their business and their fans.
Lead among these entertainment people were Yvonne Nelson, Sarkodie, Lydia Forson and DKB. Their tweets were mainly to register their displeasure that it had taken so long to solve the issue and the President kept giving assurances without much happening out of it.
Apart from the tweets, they all went to town to talk about the situation on different platforms. Yvonne Nelson granted an interview to BBC in which she claimed that the president had been lying about the situation without finding any solution to it.
Lydia Forson wrote a scathing satirical piece in which she likened the president to a dull kid in class who never passes his exam. Sarkodie made a song about the situation to register his own misgivings. DKB said he was willing to rally people to demonstrate against the Dumsor situation.
Hit the street
At some point in their effusions, a decision was made to rally their fans to hit the streets to remonstrate against the prevailing condition in order to bring attention to it and compel the powers that be to expedite actions to solve it.
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When they announced the form the remonstration would take – a quiet vigil – there was a lot of push back. Some people close to government did not only chastise the artistes on their tweets, posts and comments but went further to hurl insults at them for trying to bring the president’s name and office into disrepute.
To them, Nelson’s interview to the BBC was to embarrass the president and Forson’s letter to the president was nothing but an insult to the highest office in the land. One person called anyone who was above 30 years and hadn’t married a harlot and though he did not mention any name, it was obvious he referenced Yvonne Nelson and Lydia Forson. He would later apologise and delete his Facebook account, but his point was made.
There were so many of such vituperations on social media and on the radio against the leaders of the planned vigil.
As it always is and should be in a democratic dispensation, some entertainment people felt that the president was trying to solve the situation and should therefore be given time “since Rome was not built in a day.”
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Actor John Dumelo made a strong case and said despite the fact that he was also suffering from the Dumsor situation, he thought the president should be allowed and given time to fix it.
This position did not go kindly with some who attacked him very strongly. There were even some whom he claimed had issued death threats against him.
Then there was the case of comedian David Oscar who also said he would not go on the demonstration because he thought we should rather work towards conserving energy than going on a march to compel the president to solve it. He also got his fair share of insults for daring to oppose the vigil.
Over the last two weeks, there has been a grand display of how intolerant we can be towards one another’s opinions so much it has shown us who we really are. Some of those who disagreed with the vigil were so insulting of the organisers and some of those in support were so insulting of those who disagreed you wondered what happened to freedom of expression.
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Over the last one week, there have been several ‘happenstances’ that could hamper the planned vigil. There was the issue of the University of Ghana statement that claimed to have not granted permission to the organisers to use its premises as gathering point.
Then the issue of Total also denying granting permission to use its Legon forecourt as gathering point. And yet again there was the small matter of the Ga Traditional Council seeking the police to stop the demonstrators because it had placed a ban on drumming and noise making in Accra. The La Traditional Council countered that it was within their jurisdiction and they had no problem with it.
It seems after all is said and done, people must express themselves in a manner they deem fit to do so. If Yvonne Nelson, Sarkodie and Lydia Forson and their hordes of supporters think the best way to deal with the Dumsor situation is to go on a vigil, by all means leave them to it. If Dumelo and Oscar think it is not their style, let it be.
Insults
We shouldn’t be seen insulting or supporting the insults of others just because we disagree with a particular approach they have chosen to express themselves. The constitution grants everyone which approach they desire to choose, so long as it does not infringe on another’s freedoms.
Usually our “celebrities” like to be docile and reticent on issues of national concern and it is very refreshing, in my view and a point to be made, that these people have decided to speak in the manner they did, in spite of the obvious risk of political coloration and possible threat to their business.
The big question however is, will the Dumsor stop after the vigil on Saturday? Well it must be said that regardless of whether this #DumsorMustStop vigil comes on or not, regardless of whether the Dumsor will stop if it comes on or not, they have brought both local and international attention to an issue that has plagued every Dick, Tom, Harry, Harriet and Kwame for almost three years now.
@TheGHMediaGuru