The application to stop the organisers of the “#DumsorMustStop” demonstration from carrying out their scheduled protest has been retracted by the Ghana Police Service’s Greater Accra Regional Command.
The decision to withdraw came after the organisers decided to change the original protest route. The application was withdrawn on May 20 in response to police advice that the protest organisers consider moving the site.
Justice Lydia Osei Marfo announced during the Friday, May 24, 2024, court session that the applicants, the Ghana Police Service, had withdrawn their application in writing. As a result, the application was dismissed as withdrawn by Justice Marfo.
The protest was originally scheduled for Saturday, May 25, 2024, but the police had previously asked that the organisers change the date. The police filed a motion requesting a court order to completely stop the event after the organisers rejected this request.
Due to Revolution Square’s close proximity to Jubilee House, a designated security zone, and the planned protest’s late timing, a motion to prohibit it was filed on May 20, 2024.
The actress Yvonne Nelson has been outspoken about the negative impact that the local term for sporadic blackouts, or “dumsor,” is having on her business. In 2015, she spearheaded a protest of a similar nature. She had informed the Ghana Police Service of the planned protest along with her team.
The police, however, were against the planned protest route because of security concerns about its proximity to Jubilee House and the protest’s intended midnight end time. They were particularly against the protest’s endpoint at Revolution Square.