Celebrities meet Accra police over dumsor vigil
A number of celebrities led by Ms Yvonne Nelson met the police Thursday to firm the dumsor vigil planned for next weekend.
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The meeting which is the first between the police and the celebrities since news broke that the celebrated rapper, Sarkodie, and Yvonne have scheduled May 16, 2015 to hold a vigil in support of a campaign to bring pressure on the government to end the power crisis.
Also in attendance were Yvonne Nelson’s lawyer, Akwasi Awuah, her manager, Kofi Bentil, and musician D-Black and four others in the showbiz industry.
Ban on noise making
Sources close to the police hinted the Daily Graphic that the meeting looked at the possibility of the ban on drumming and noise making in the Ga state affecting the vigil.
According to the source, the University of Ghana had indicated that the university’s stadium where the organisers of the vigil intended to start the march might not be available on that date.
The organisers of the vigil are therefore,planning to change the starting point of the vigil to the forecourt of the On the Run Eatery at Legon.
The less than three hour vigil is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. and end at the Tetteh Quarshie roundabout, in Accra, at about 6:30 pm.
Due to the ban on drumming and noise making the organisers of the vigil proposed at the meeting to change the date of the event to May 9, 2015 but the police kicked against the new date since it had been booked by another group for a demonstration.
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The police then encouraged the organisers of the vigil to hold the vigil after the ban on noise making and drumming had been lifted in a month’s time.
However, the organisers said they could not wait till then since most of them had planned trips outside Ghana, performances and movies to shoot.
The organisers also expressed the view that the excitement will diminish if the date was postponed to a later time.
Later, the organisers agreed to respect the traditions of the Ga traditional area and that because it was a vigil and not a demonstration it would be a quiet procession.
Confirmation
When the Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mrs Affia Tenge, was contacted she confirmed that the police had given the celebrities the green light to hold the vigil on the scheduled date based on the promise of the organisers to ensure that their supporters would not make noise or break the Ga tradition.
“The police is therefore, advising all persons who will attend the vigil that they should note that noise cannot be entertained.”
Later, Yvonne Nelson, who has been embarking on her dumsor must stop campaign on social media posted on her Instagram page that ”meeting with the Regional Police Commander done, join us on the 16th. a peaceful and calm vigil. Our voices ned to be heard.”