The Ga Traditional Council has denied accusations that it is deliberately frustrating the efforts of the celebrities who plan to hold a vigil to protest the ongoing power crisis.
[contextly_sidebar id=”gOFqrG2Y24U5jcpqpqqDv6VmkwteoW6I”]The Council has petitioned the Greater Accra Police Command over the dumsor vigil claiming it will contravene the ban on drumming and noise making that precedes the celebration of the Homowo festival.
According to the Council, the timing of the vigil falls within the duration of the ban which begins on Monday, May 11 to Thursday June 11, 2015.
Some have interpreted this development as efforts to thwart the vigil.
However, speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, spokesman for the Ga Traditional Council, Nii Tackie Commey denied these assertions.
He pointed out that the group can organize the vigil when the ban on drumming and noise making is lifted in June.
According to him, although the organizers of the vigil have given the assurance that they will respect the ban on drumming and noise making, there are no guarantees that the participants will strictly adhere to the customary laws of the land.
“We are no strangers to this…so as for the assurance, the assurance can be there but as to adhering to the assurance on the day of the vigil, what are the guarantees?” he asked.
Nii Tackie Commey stressed that “for the purpose of the time in which there is a ban in which we are supposed to be performing our customary rights, we will plead that it will be extended after the period! That is all we are saying.”
A group of celebrities led by actress Yvonne Nelson and hiplife artiste, Sarkodie are planning to embark on a vigil dubbed: ‘Dumsormuststop vigil’ on May 16, 2016 to pressurize the government to urgently resolve the energy crisis.
The group has received the approval from the Greater Accra Police Command but they have had to change the converging point twice.
First, the authorities of the University of Ghana denied them access to use the school’s stadium as the converging venue for the vigil.
The organizers later settled on Total Ghana’s ‘On the Run’ opposite the Legon campus but the company also denied them access.
The latest venue is now the Accra Mall at Tetteh Quarshie but it is presently not clear whether the vigil will come on following the decision by the Ga Traditional Council.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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