The Dumsor vigil had gone well. Hundreds of people turned up and behaved very well. The police had precious little work to do. Speaker after speaker had berated the government for not doing enough to end the Dumsor. The last speaker was on the platform, wrapping up his speech, and the crowd was tired, getting ready to disperse. Then from the west they heard a loud siren sound.
The crowd turned their heads almost in sync and in unison at the direction of the sound, and sure enough, there is the well-known blue and red flashing lights of police outriders. Soon, what was apparent became clear. This was the presidential motorcade. But wait a minute, the motorcade is heading towards the vigil grounds. The police outriders are in black #DumsorMustStop T-Shirts! The motorcade comes to a halt. The security guards, also clad in black #DumsorMustStop T- Shirts rush to open the door of the lead vehicle, and out steps the President.
“What?” one could almost hear the crowd gasp. And, guess what, he is also in a black #DumsorMustStop T-Shirt. He walks towards the podium. The crowd is in shock. The fiery last speaker is befuddled and bewildered. The crowd parts as he walks to the podium and the hitherto virulent anti-government speaker (suspected to be a member of OccupyGhana), almost sheepishly hand the microphone to him.
The President pauses for a microsecond and starts: “Ladies and gentlemen, I feel your pain. Your cause is right, your anger is just and your anguish is real. This Dumsor Must Stop, and it must stop now. As your leader and president, I assure you that I am working flat out to resolve it. Not a day goes by without me demanding almost hourly updates and progress reports from the responsible ministers and officials. I am certain that we are doing all that is humanly possible to resolve this. I cannot say when this will end once and for all. But I can say to you that I am leaving no stone unturned and no base uncovered in my work to fix this problem. If that is all I am able to do by the end of my first term, I will be a very happy man. For your part, I covert your prayers, seek your support and crave your indulgence. Work with me. Send me your ideas. Together, we will cross this bridge and look back one day and say that as a people, this adversity brought us closer than we have ever been. I will not take any more of your time. I will join you in the crowd, and stay and chat with you till the last person leaves for home. Thank you, and may God bless our homeland Ghana, and make our nation great and strong once again…”
And he was done. It begun as a whisper, then whimper, then a murmur, then, as if on cue, a great cheer broke from the crowd. Yes, the crowd was clapping and cheering for the President…
Then I woke up. I really should stop eating beans on Saturday mornings! Where’s my black T-Shirt? Off I go to join the vigil…after salsa ofcourse
Mr Pobs
