The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, says the recent power outages in Ghana are a consequence of mismanagement of the country’s power-generating assets.
Mr. Mahama contends that the use of energy sector levies as collateral for loans has contributed immensely to this challenge.
Backed by the Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA), the government implemented the levies to consolidate various levies within the energy sector to fund power generation and address accumulated debts.
He expressed concern for the impact of the erratic power supply on businesses and households, highlighting the inability to plan effectively in such conditions.
He called for accountability and concerted efforts to address the ongoing power crisis.
“The country has been plunged into darkness. Mismanagement of our generating assets and collateralisation of the ESLA, which was meant to provide the resources to finance current and legacy debt, has led us back into the doom zone.
“The best government can do is to eat humble pie, take responsibility for the problem, and work to address it. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I’m aware that businesses and households cannot plan because of the erratic power situation.”
Recently, Ghanaians have been experiencing unstable power supply in various parts of the country.
Consequently, the Minority in Parliament, civil society organisations (CSOs), and energy sector players have called for an ECG load-shedding timetable to help citizens plan their daily activities.
Many power consumers believe that the country’s power outages are akin to an era of frequent blackouts, which birthed the term ‘dumsor’.
However, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) stated that the nation has a stable national power supply despite the ongoing power crisis.
The power distributor attributed the recent power outages in certain areas to localised faults and urged its customers to report blackouts for the necessary action.