Last Saturday, May 16, Ghana – and the world at large – sat up to watch a considerably large fraction of its citizenry march in a thoroughly publicised vigil as a means of protesting against the electrical power supply crisis (popularly termed ‘dumsor’) that has plagued the nation for much of the last few years.
Led by some of Ghana’s most eminent celebrities, the movement – unsurprisingly christened #dumsormuststop (DMS) – certainly matched the hype that preceded the event.
If you weren’t among the mostly dark-clad crowd which peacefully expressed their frustrations, here’s why – on the lighter side – you really should have been.
Lighters up!
In an era when extensive, regular lighting is as rare as sighting an obese Fulani in Accra, DMS surely had lots of brightness to go around, what with all the ‘bobo’, lanterns, candles, and flashlights that illuminated the procession. Add, too, the fact that the route the vigil took had, per prevailing standards, a rather excellent supply of electricity. For those ‘dum-ed’ for several days running, this might just have been your one chance to ‘shine’ your eyes while waiting for ECG to look your way.
Love in the air
If there was anything that abounded at DMS – lights aside – it probably was the ‘single-and-ready-to-mingle’ class. With so many ‘freshes’ registering their support for the DMS movement online and assuring their presence at the vigil, ‘Kalaspy’ pros would have been in for one long, rewarding evening – if you catch my drift.
History made
Whether or not DMS gets ‘dumsor’ solved, one thing is indubitable: DMS would remain a landmark point in Ghana’s history. The heated inter-celebrity banter on social media in the build-up to the vigil was quite a thing to savour. Also the ‘gods’ had their say, as did the police, some ‘celebs’, along with one or two foul-mouthed politicians. Perhaps your presence would have made the jigsaw a bit more complete, no?
Night with the stars…
Okay, let’s face it; it isn’t everyday you get to share space with Ghana’s self-proclaimed ‘fastest’ rapper (not the lightweight look-alike version who turned up and whose pictures are still making the rounds on the Internet), two sultry leading actresses, and a host of other celebrities. And while Michael Owusu Addo aka ‘Sarkodie’ (one of the DMS leaders) wasn’t actually present – being away in the U.S for professional reasons – there still were more than enough famous faces to secure photographs, autographs and all other souvenir ‘graphs’ from. Heck, there even was a Shatta Wale double ‘repping’!
…and also with the, er, ‘other’ stars
You had absolutely no reason not being there, matter-of-factly. Why? Well, even those with no business at the DMS vigil made it a point to attend. The much maligned Alhaji Halidu Haruna was there marching with the ‘prostitutes’ at the expense of his pride – and nearly at that of his life as well – with a ‘bobo’ as huge as his recent well-documented gaffes, while David Oscar (you should know who he is by now, if not prior) didn’t even consider it ‘hypocritical’ to make an appearance.
Now, don’t you just feel like smacking yourself for missing the event?
Credit: Sammie Frimpong
