By Ebi Kesiena
Hundreds of Ghanaians took to the streets of Accra on Saturday in a peaceful protest against power outages affecting businesses and daily life in the West African country.
Dressed in red and black, with leaders in red berets, demonstrators marched through the capital, calling on the government to stabilize power supplies.
Singing patriotic songs and carrying kerosene-powered lanterns to symbolize their plight, the large crowd caused a traffic jam in the evening.
The protest, also called the #DumsorMustStop vigil – ‘dumsor’ means power cuts – was organized by prominent Ghanaian actress and film producer Yvonne Nelson.
“I feel the heat, and I am here to make my voice heard,” Nelson told AFP.
READ ALSO: Benin Considers Citizenship For Descendants Of Enslaved Africans
Ghanaian comedian DKB also took part in the protest, telling AFP: “These unannounced power cuts are killing our profession. We need stable electricity to thrive.”
Some other ordinary Ghanaians also expressed their frustration.
Shop owner Anita Twumasi was visibly distressed as she talked about how the power outage had affected her six-month-old baby.
“My baby can’t stand the heat. Every time the power goes out, I worry about her health,” she said.
Protesters blame the power outages on the alleged inability of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to pay for necessary fuel.
The demonstrators held placards with slogans such as “NPP, you have failed the youth,” “No light, no progress,” and “Electricity is a right, not a privilege.”
Heritage Times HT notes that despite being one of the first African countries to aggressively pursue electrification, Ghana faces chronic power shortages and struggles to expand capacity to meet growing demand.
Electricity has become a key campaign issue in gold and oil-rich Ghana, ahead of December elections.
