Deafening Silence: Ghanaian Celebrities Response To #OccupyJulorbiHouse

In a nation where the right to assemble and protest is protected by law ( Public Order Act 1994) , today’s protest organized by the Democracy Hub proved otherwise as the Ghana Police arrested and allegedly beat up unarmed impassioned Ghanaians who had gathered at the 37 trotro station earlier this morning. The demonstration was being held to demand accountability, protest against the high cost of living, leadership failure at resolving economic challenges, poor road infrastructure (#FixTheMotorWay), galamsey, corruption and greed. Twitter (now X) was in an uproar throughout the day which also happened to be a national memorial holiday for Ghana's Freedom Fighter & First President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

It was quite perplexing, though, the conspicuous and surprising silence of Ghana's influential celebrities amidst this cancellation of a peaceful protest. These celebrities, who often wield their voices for change, remained uncharacteristically quiet as a crucial moment in the nation's history unfolded. This silence has not only sparked outrage but has also ignited a critical dialogue about the role and responsibilities of celebrities in the face of such challenges. In this blog post, i share celebrity accounts and what they used their voices for during this protest . Who spoke, when they spoke and what they said. I’ll also explore the implications, the public's reactions, and the broader discourse surrounding their response—or lack thereof—to this troubling incident."

Sarkodie, a most vocal Ghanaian superstar when it came to calling out politicians back when John Mahama was President of Ghana. He even created soundtracks to diss the government. But interestingly and rather disappointingly, he’s been quiet in such obvious and dire economic times and it’s so telling in his one tweet he posted today. Not only does the tweet say anything of value but he doesn’t even add the hashtag for the protest.

Stonebwoy also tweeted/posted several hours later in a much longer tweet than Sarkodie’s . But the tweet lacked any originality and stank highly of a hurriedly hired PR agent’s writing or perhaps a ChatGPT generative response copied and pasted in X. Very impersonal and also he refrained from using the official protest hashtag. What on earth is #AfricanSystem ? What does it have to do with the current protest and what it stands for? Chaley 😩

Then comes Gyakie the songstress who also tweeted at 6:31pm a ‘supportive’ vague post which many of her followers rubbished off. Also she kept out the protest hashtag. Noted.

Amaarae also tweeted out her support and shared how she just got news of the protest at 8:23pm. She asked her team to send some cash to the organisers of the protest for those who have been currently jailed. This post was more personal than a PR stunt as compared to other celebrity accounts.

KiDi Music tweeted later in the afternoon a personal post on making an effort to help detained protesters. His followers had mixed reactions which sparred between appreciation and calling out the late post if not for the bashing they were getting on the X app.

Yvonne Nelson’s X account didn’t have any posts regarding today’s protest although she’s tweeted her displeasure and disappointment in the current government on a few occasions.

Shatta Wale’s Twitter account was laden with insults to whoever he’s livid with, two tweets shouting at his followers and unknown targets.

Meanwhile, the Terminator man King Promise finally posted something with many exclamation marks in a bid to be on the ‘safe’ side with the protest. This move stank so bad with his followers. His lack of using the protest hashtag was so obvious as well.

Black Sheriff's post at 5:56pm (also an afterthought) shared his mind on how Ghanaian leaders must give accountability to Ghanaians for monies collected from the United Nations agencies. Perhaps he's going to be a UN Ambassador fr.

It’s simply disheartening how none of the sports or religious personalities such as Asamoah Gyan, Michael Essien had zero posts on their socials regarding today’s manhandling and disruption of the protest by Ghanaians who are also their fans and followers . I’ll not even mention celebrities who were posting selfies today in light of the day’s disturbing and saddening events.

Whilst others were of the opinion that celebrities can post what they like on their socials, other also stood on the ground that if more of them were part of this protest, the numbers would have swelled up and the police would have been more open to allowing things to proceed.

Should celebrities and speak up during social and democratically organised protests or should they go about their own business and decide what to post on their social media? Do they have a form of social media responsibility towards their followers during such event occurrences? Celebrities are who they are because of their fans. If not for the follower count and fan attendance at events where does a celebrity stand? Nowhere. Share your opinion in the comments section.

#OccupyJulorbiHouse