Ghanaians Cry Out, Dumsor here, Dumsor there, Dumsor Everywhere

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Dumsor
Dumsor

Pressure is mounting on the government of President John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress to fix the almost two years debilitating and frustrating load shedding, which has been christened ?dumsor?.

Dumsor
Dumsor

Despite the President?s consistent assurances to fix the age long problem once and for all, recent upsurge in the power outages across the country has forced several individuals and organizations to begin piling pressure on President John Mahama?s government to resolve the energy crisis.

Aside complains from the citizenry about the power crisis which has brought untold hardship to the populace, the Trade Union Congress, Association of Ghana Industries, Students, celebrities and entrepreneurs, among others have all joined the fray.

Too long to Fix Dumsor

Speaking at this year?s May Day parade in Accra, Friday, the Secretary General of the TUC, Kofi Asamoah called on the president to up his game, saying ?it?s taken too long to fix the dumsor.?

He said the erratic power supply is affecting Ghanaian workers adversely to the extent that majority of them are beginning to lose their jobs due to austere measures being taken by companies to survive the energy crisis.

?Thousands of Ghanaian workers have been denied jobs due to dumsor and many more are likely to lose their jobs?We know it didn?t start today, but it is within your tenure? do anything possible to resolve it. It must end now,? Asamoah told Mahama.

More Complains

Early this year, the association of Ghana Industries and the Ghana Union of Traders Association charged the President to take pragmatic measures to end the energy situation, saying that the current load shedding exercise was affecting the growth of industries.

Remedial Measures

Ghanaians have close to two years been saddled with erratic power supply which has brought in its wake, agonizing and unbearable hardship to many people.

Government has since outlined remedial measures to solve the problem as a result of which the President early this year carved a Power Ministry out of the Energy Ministry and appointed Dr Kwabena Donkor as its head.

Aside maintenance work on existing generation plants and new agreements with multinationals to increases the country?s generational capacity, the Mahama-led government has also contracted a Turkish firm, Karpowership, to build two power barges, which are expected in the country in August and September.

Due to the state at which the power outages is destroying businesses and deepening the financial woes of Ghanaians, discussions on this year?s May Day celebration centered on dumsor, with almost all placards at the celebration across the country saying something about the worrying problem.

President Mahama?s Assurance

Speaking at the May Day parade in Accra, President John Mahama reiterated government’s position to fix the energy crisis by the end of the year, insisting that the current challenge faced by the power sector is purely technical rather than financial.

He said Ghanaians will heave a sigh of relief in the energy sector in the coming days if the Aboadzi Thermal Plant completes its maintenance work.

Addressing Parliament in the recent State of the National Address, President Mahama stated that his approach to the current power crisis is not to manage it as past governments have done, but to fix it once and for all.

?I do not intend to manage the situation as has been done in the past, I intend to fix it. I, John Dramani Mahama will fix this energy challenge,? he noted.

Entertainment Stars Join Frenzy

While many Ghanaians are optimistic that the situation will normalize in the coming days as the President assured, others, particularly entertainment stars, have raised eyebrows about government?s commitment to solving the problem.

On social media last week, these celebrities one after the other, and as if it was choreographed, vent their spleen on the President and his government, with some of them throwing all decency to the dogs, they tongue-lash the president for doing little in solving the energy crisis.

The unprovoked and harsh attacks on the President by the stars was occasioned by an appeal to Ghanaians by award winning actor, John Dumelo, to give the President some time to solve the nation’s problems including the energy crisis.

In an interview with Accra-based Starr Fm, Dumelo said ?We should just give him [Mahama] time to solve the problems. The problems are there but its four years; Rome wasn?t built in a day? and if after 2016 the problems are not solved, then we know what to do.

?But I think a lot of people are putting pressure on him and it?s not as if he doesn?t want to solve the problems; he does so we should just give him time.?

Moments after his comments, members of the opposition New Patriotic Party and Dumelo’s colleagues in the acting and music industry took to social media to berate him for courting public sympathy for the President in the midst of the hardships Ghanaians are experiencing.

First to let loose the canon of attacks was popular actress, Yvonne Nelson who took to her twitter page to write ?It?s so sad; this dumsor crap is here to stay! They will just not tell the people the truth! They?ll wait and let us get used to it. The President doesn?t even see our tweets to him because the page is obviously not run by him. What?s the use? If you don?t handle your account?[sic] Ghanaians, wake up! We seriously don?t deserve this! #dumsormuststop?

She followed it up with an interview with the BBC, saying ?the government actually promised they were sending power barges to help the situation. They told us it was coming last month [April] and today is 1st May. So it is pretty much full of lies. They keep telling us lies and we are not seeing any results.?

As if John Dumelo?s call was meant to provoke his colleagues, multiple award winning rapper, Michael Owusu Addo, known in the showbiz industry as Sarkodie, also took to his twitter page and wrote ?It ain?t easy being a president and I don?t think I can but if you choose to, you can?t be selfish? It is only for the selfless #Leader?Watch and listen to them carefully and see if they care about us,?

?We [are being] treated like kids down here ma people and it?s sad?They succeeded in programming our minds not to focus on important issues, all these fake political talk shows with people battling on who speaks better English and not sharing ideas on the way forward,? Sarkodie added.
As if that was not enough, another award winning actress, Lydia Forson, whose father is a reverend minister, took the attacks on the President to another level by likening him to a school kid who is always last.

Bits of an open letter she wrote to the President, which was posted on her facebook paged reads ?Our president is like that kid in school who is always last, always gives the wrong answers and never seems to grasp what is being taught.?

While this was going on, John Dumelo, whose harmless request incurred the wrath of his colleague celebrities and the opposition, backtracked on his comments that Ghanaians should give President Mahama time to fix the country?s problems, when he came back to say his statement was ?misread? and/or ?misconstrued?.

In a rebuttal on his Instagram page, the popular actor stressed that neither does he speak for the ruling NDC nor the opposition NPP.

Dumelo stressed: ?To Whom It May Concern, my sentiments expressed on an Accra based FM station have totally been misread and misconstrued. Before I start off, I’m not a spokesperson for any political party neither am I a representative in the social circles. The tapes are there for you to listen.?

?The audio is available for anyone willing to hear exactly what I said on star fm. I said and I quote” let’s give the president time to solve the problems; after all, if by 2016 these problems haven’t been solved, we know what we will do,? he added.

Meanwhile, another Ghanaian star and comedian, Derrick Kobina Bonney, popularly called DKB, have served notice that he will soon lead a demonstration by celebrities against the power crisis in the country.

Other celebrities like Chris Attoh, ‘Wanlov the Kubolor’ etc, have all called on Government to find an urgent and lasting solution to the problem.

Source: the alhajj

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