Is there Dumsor or not?

It has been more than six months since the resurgence of this chronic power outage in Ghana.

It began as a short period outage that gave hope to consumers that it would be restored in less than five minutes. Little did we know that it was a test kit for what the release of the power outage “timetable” for the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) would look like. Then, it became a pain in our neck before we could say jack.

Several appeals have been made to the ECG to share a timetable for the load-shedding to aid consumers plan their lives.

Unfortunate

The response, however, has been one that can be termed “disrespectful”, “unfortunate”, and “unexpected” of the sector minister, Mathew Opoku Prempeh. He is reported to have retorted to those calling for the timetable to bring their own if they so needed one published.

In what looks like the ECG’s connivance with the Minister, the power company says there will be no need for a timetable in spite of the challenges. It explained further that the current power situation did not warrant the implementation of a load-shedding timetable.

Speaking to the media, the External Communications Manager of ECG said other factors “may” account for the recent power cut and that what Ghanaians know as “dumsor” is not back in our faces. Then I ask: does this mean the ECG does not know what is really happening?

And if so, why not heed to the calls from the public, their regulators, Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), and now the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy directing the ECG to publish a load-shedding timetable amid these annoying power cuts?.

Lack of planning

The ECG’s ‘recalcitrance’ makes one wonders if it is pride, lack of planning, or sheer incompetence. For once, can we just stop politicising everything in Ghana and address what is befalling us?

It took the intervention from literally, everyone, for the school’s light to be restored.

Economy

Recounting the effects of the power cut on the economy, a cold store operator in my community told me she had to empty her fridge of all the proteins and any other perishables she was storing as they began going bad due to the frequent power outages.

Going to her after about two weeks, she tells me she won’t restock until the issue is fixed as she cannot afford to incur more costs. The current power outage in the country reminds me of the unpleasant experience I had in Nigeria some years ago.

Can citizens know the truth, at least?  We’re tired of having to live in darkness after others were “cursed” for causing it in their time.