Bright Simons reacts to Yvonne Nelson’s dumsor vigil proposal

Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa, has denied that the organisation had any direct role in the 2015 vigil against the then-government over dumsor-scheduled power shortages.

He highlighted in a message on X that the vigils against the John Dramani Mahama government were organised by pressure organisations, which are often ad hoc, as opposed to IMANI, which he defined as a “permanent institution.”

Simons was responding to a recent demand for additional dumsor protests by actress Yvonne Nelson, a key organiser of the popular 2015 protest.

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Nelson’s post on X (dated April 22, 2024) particularly asked IMANI to commit to assisting with the protest due to their prior track record.

“Imani Ghana, can we plan another vigil? I’ve been waiting for you to reach out as you did years ago. (Your team made our demo a success), therefore I’m reaching out myself. The NPP and its leader, @NAkufoAddo, have taken Ghanaians for granted. “#DUMSORMUSTSTOP,” her post said.

Simons stated that IMANI has continued to challenge the government on various concerns with the power supply ecosystem, blaming Yvonne Nelson of not amplifying the same.

When an X user pointed out that Yvonne’s call was in line with the present dumsor residents were experiencing, Simons answered, “Except that IMANI did not organise any vigils.”

“They were organised by pressure groups.” Pressure groups aren’t lasting entities. Ghana’s challenges need long-term, sustained lobbying, which INSTITUTIONS excel at. Do you support such institutions? “Does Ms. Nelson?”

The ‘dumsor’ palava

As early as late 2023, Ghanaians in several sections of the country began experiencing frequent power outages without notice.

These outages, which increased in 2024, disrupted companies and residents’ daily routines.

This has prompted some residents to believe that ‘dumsor’ is returned.

The ‘dumsor’ scenario in 2015 sparked a major protest in which several celebrities, including Yvonne Nelson and Prince David Osei, took part.

However, numerous government authorities have maintained that the outages are not caused by ‘dumsor’. They also claim there was no need for a timeline.

The situation was exacerbated when the Minister for Energy, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, urged those pushing for a timeline to create one themselves.

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