Ei Kojo,
If you’re reading this under a bulb that’s actually on, then praise be to ECG and all its ancestral cables. Because as for me, I’m writing this under moonlight and mosquito attack, using the last two bars of power on my powerbank and my will to live.
Today, I bring you a tale not of war, not of love, but of Dumsor—that old witch of a problem that refuses to die, like expired kenkey warmed three times.
Dumsor the Ever-Present
Kojo, this Dumsor matter is not electricity again—it’s performance art.
One minute you’re frying eggs for indomie, the next minute you’re frying your face in the dark. It’s the only place where “off light” happens faster than ministerial apologies.
Last Saturday, I went to town to watch Black Stars play. You know that spot behind Alhaji’s container? The one with the TV hanging on a nail like Jesus on the cross? Bro, the game was hot! Ghana 2–2 South Africa, 89th minute, corner kick. Crowd dey shout, “Pressure, pressure!”
Then BAM! Darkness.
Someone even shouted, “Ayoo! ECG has scored us again!”
The Dumsor Prophecy
This country eh, we no dey check weather forecast—we dey check light forecast.
Small rain, lights go off.
Hot sun, lights go off.
Too much laughter? Lights go off.
Even silence can trigger it.
But wait, Kojo, let’s be fair. The government said they are doing “load-shedding for maintenance”. You and I both know that means “we have no idea what’s happening but it’s not our fault.”
Sometimes I think ECG and VRA are in a toxic relationship—fighting every week, and we the citizens are the side chicks suffering.
Romance in the Dark
And yet, somehow, we survive. You know Ghanaians—we adapt.
The woman selling roasted plantain now uses a generator bigger than her stand.
The guy selling phone credit charges your phone for you at extra GHS 3.
And couples, oh Kojo, couples are even thanking Dumsor. Because when the lights go off, things go on.
Let the truth be said: Dumsor has improved the nation’s birth rate. At this point, ECG and midwives should split the credit.
Dumsor as National Culture
Let’s stop pretending. Dumsor is not a problem anymore—it’s part of our identity.
It has taught us patience, innovation, and how to iron shirts with body heat. Some children in this country think candles are a permanent fixture of home décor.
There’s even a new TikTok challenge: “How to Cook Jollof in Darkness Without Crying.”
Final Words, Before Battery Dies
Kojo, if you ever write a book on Ghanaian endurance, Dumsor should be Chapter 1. Because in this country, we don’t switch lights off. The system does it for us.
But we move.
We laugh.
We go to work with torchlights in our bags like we’re going camping.
We take selfies in darkness and call it “natural filter.”
So my brother, if your light dey on today, use it well. Iron your shirt, charge your phone, fry all your eggs—because Dumsor dey come like thief wey no knock.
Yours in eternal blackout,
Kwabena Kokote
Frequent Customer of ECG
Part-time Torchlight Influencer
Chief Priest of the Electric Altar