In a surprising turn of events during a live press conference, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, found herself reacting with an amusing “Oops!” as the electricity abruptly went out, momentarily disrupting the briefing.
The incident occurred while Jean Mensa was updating the media on the upcoming district assembly elections scheduled for December 19, 2023.
Amidst delivering crucial details about the electoral arrangements, the room was plunged into darkness, with only faint light from outside providing visibility. Just before the unexpected interruption, Mensa was elaborating on the electoral arrangements but was cut off mid-sentence.
“I would like to emphasise again that voting will take place in all polling stations in all the electoral areas across the country with the exception of Nkoranza North and South district in the Bono East Region. This is because both districts…” she explained, the outage occurring right after.
Responding with a spontaneous “Oops…” in light of the unforeseen power outage, Jean Mensa waited in a brief silence for the lights to be restored before continuing with her comments.
Once the lights were back, she resumed the briefing, stating, “I was just making the point that all polling stations in all electoral areas across the country except for the above constituency. This is because both districts had their elections in 2021 instead of 2019. Hence, the term of office of the assembly and the unit committees of those two districts will expire next year, 2024.”
The incident added a touch of spontaneity to the press conference, with the ‘Dumsor’ moment becoming a memorable part of the Electoral Commission’s update on the upcoming elections. Despite the brief interruption, Jean Mensa carried on with poise, providing essential information to the media and the public.
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