Ghana Election Project to embark on 5-day protest over Dumsor

A group calling itself Ghana Elections Project is set to embark on a 5-day demonstration against the ongoing power outages popularly known as ‘dumsor’.

The protest slated for April 26, 2024, is to put pressure on the Akufo-Addo-led government to prompt the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to release a ‘dumsor’ timetable.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra, the head of the political desk of the group, Mr. Lawrence Lamptey said it is an apolitical protest aimed at rallying Ghanaians towards a common cause.

He stated that government has been very insensitive to the plight of Ghanaians in relation to the ongoing dumsor.

The political activist claimed many have lost their livelihoods because ECG has failed to release a dumsor timetable for the citizens to plan their lives.

Mr. Lamptey is therefore convinced the protest will send a signal to government that Ghanaians are not happy with the current development.

He said they will hit the streets and markets in Accra to express their displeasure to government and demand it fixed dumsor in the shortest possible time.

He said among the things the group will do is to submit petitions to all relevant authorities including the Ministry of Energy and the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC) to get the power issues addressed for all Ghanaians.

Below is the full statement

ELECTIONS PROJECT TO ANNOUNCE A 5-DAY PROTEST AGAINST DUMSOR AND DUMSOR-RELATED POLITICS READ BY LAWRENCE LAMPTEY ON TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2024
MEMBERS OF THE GHANA ELECTIONS PROJECT,
PARTNER ORGANISATIONS HERE PRESENT,
FRIENDS FROM THE MEDIA,
LADIES AND GENTLEMENT,
Good morning

How are the current power outages recorded across the country affecting you, your business, and love ones? Your guess is as good as ours.

We at The Ghana Elections Project (TGEP) understand the hurt and disappointment of Ghanaians in what is going on in the power sector. Since the start of this year, the magnanimity and generosity of Ghanaians have been taken for granted by this government because of its refusal to acknowledge and admit the challenges wea re facing as a nation.
There is currently dumsor ongoing in some parts of the country and whether the government likes it or not this is dumsor and not any other name. Political honesty and accountability require our politicians to be truthful and candid to the people about the challenges being faced so that together we can marshal solutions to arrest the situation. Unfortunately, this is not what we are getting from the present government, which is disappointing and amounts to an insult to the people who voted for them in 2020. Political dishonesty as being demonstrated by the governing New Patriotic Party is an affront to democracy and the earlier Ghanaians rise up to have their views heard, the better for everyone.

One factor that is worsening the power outages across the country is the refusal of the Electricity Company of Ghana to release a load shedding timetable to allow Ghanaians to order their lives accordingly to the prevailing dumsor situation. The erstwhile John Mahama’s administration who faced one of the worst power situations in the history of Ghana from late 2012 to 2016 did a lot of heavy lifting to solve the problem, the benefit of which this government is basking in.

Ladies and gentlemen from the press, we do not know how many Ghanaians you’ve interacted with within the recent power crisis but we can tell you on authority that many Ghanaians are suffering and a lot of them have had properties destroyed because of the crisis and the last thing a politician should do is to worsen the situation of the people as it is being done by key political appointees such as the Minister for Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh.

The Ghana Elections Project would like to remind Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh and his government that the good people of Ghana will not entertain any insults from persons who are benefiting from the mandate and generosity of Ghanaians.

Telling the good people of Ghana to come out with their own dumsor timetable at a time the country is facing a major power crisis shows the type of people we have in leadership positions in the country. In light of this The Ghana Elections Project is demanding an unqualified apology from Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh for his insulting attitude. We are, therefore giving him two weeks within which he must apologise to Ghanaians for the insults.

Also, we would like to urge the Government of President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo to stop the dumsor politics that his appointees are gleefully engaging in to the chagrin of Ghanaians.

The Ghana Elections Project is giving the Government two weeks to prevail upon the ECG to release a load shedding timetable for the entire country, if it is mindful of the challenges Ghanaians are going through because of the carelessness of some political appointees. Also, the Government must solve the power crisis completely as was done by his predecessor by making sure that monies owed to the independent power producers are given to them on time to avoid any erratic power supply in the future.

The Ghana Elections Project has served a notice to protest against the ongoing power outages across the country – no city or village is spared in this national power crisis. A 5-day protest will start from April, 23rd to 27th and in the course of this protest we will mash-up at various state institutions that has a role to play in resolving the power crisis including, the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC), the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Finance, identified markets, among others.

This protest is a national call and should not be viewed from any political lens, this is because when there is dumsor it doesn’t discriminate whether you are a member of the NPP, NDC, or the CPP – dumsor affects everybody.

Every Ghanaian needs to participate in this protest. If your properties have been destroyed because of the current dumsor, if you struggle to sleep at night because of this dumsor , if your business is struggling because of this dumsor, if you are concerned about the power crisis, then this demonstration is for you. The 5-day protest is for both young and old, to help us weed out political sycophancy and hypocritic tendencies of politicians.

In the coming weeks, The Ghana Elections Project will mobilise the entire country for this national assignment. The first of the 5-day protest will take place in Accra. The rest will be held in other parts of the country soon to be announced.

Ladies and Gentlemen from the press, The Ghana Elections Project will serve the relevant state institutions with notice of the 5-day protest to avoid last minutes surprises which this country is notoriously known for in recent times. We are, therefore using your media platform to appeal to all Ghanaians and partner organisations who would like to support the 5-day protest in diverse ways to make it a mammoth one and memorable.

Source: Myrepubliconline