Former president of the Ghana Actors Guild, Nii Odoi Mensah has said a planned vigil by some young celebrities led by actress Yvonne Nelson, to protest against the worsening power crisis in the country will amount to nothing.
In his view, Nelson and her colleagues are complaining about a problem that President John Mahama did not create.
The veteran actor told Starr 103.5FM’s Cordelia Ama Selormey in an interview Wednesday that though the celebrities have the right to hold the vigil, it is “unnecessary” in his opinion.
Nelson, her rapper friend Sarkodie and fellow actress and producer Lydia Forson have written to the Police, in accordance with the Public Order Act, to seek permission for the vigil.
The #DumsorTrio have been very vocal in their criticism of the government for “allowing the crisis to spiral out of control.”
Nelson, who started the social media hashtag #Dumsormuststop, announced Tuesday that every Ghanaian citizen interested in seeing the problem resolved should join the protest.
But Odoi Mensah told Starr Entertainment that the young members of the guild should have sought advice before starting the campaign. He believes President Mahama is making frantic efforts to bring Ghana back to full illumination.
“In a society where the young will not seek advice from the elderly, then you know we have a problem.
“Seriously my sister do you think the present government is happy with the situation in which we are? Or, when his Excellency the president came into power, do you think he went to Akosombo to [shut] the dam off, so that we stay in darkness? Or can’t we understand that there is a problem and somebody must fix it and that we all have to help that person to fix it?” he wondered.
An obviously incensed Odoi Mensah compared Ghana’s situation to that of Nigeria and asked that people be patient with the government.
“Ghanaians must learn to be patient in life. You don’t get things on a silver platter. No condition is permanent. The man said he is trying his best to solve the problem, let’s help him solve it!
“My sister go to Nigeria. Years and they are still in darkness. Ghana has only been in this for one year. If Ghana is fifty something years and for that period we’ve had electricity except for one year, why should we be complaining as much?”
He added “If you embark on a demonstration and you go on a vigil that #dumsormuststop, what have you done? If you have any ideas as to how to stop the dumsor, give it to them. But if you go on a demonstration, you go on a vigil and all that, it won’t solve the problem.”
He also asked people to note the power crisis did not come about as a result of the Mahama Government’s inactions.
“All the past governments! They didn’t have vision. So let’s not only blame it on the current government, I mean we don’t have to politicise everything. We must be realistic in all we do. Let’s stop the blame game and help the man to solve it.”
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