Nana Amoasi VII, Executive Director of the Institute of Energy Security, has criticized the current administration for the recent resurgence of power outages, commonly referred to as ‘dumsor.’ According to him, Ghana had sufficient capacity to prevent power supply challenges since 2017.
Speaking on Joy Newsâ Newsfile with Samson Lardy, Nana Amoasi VII pointed out that the countryâs installed capacity stood at 4,300 megawatts in 2017, providing a reliable power supply. He noted that this figure has now increased to 5,100 megawatts, yet Ghana is struggling to generate adequate power, often falling short at just 3,100 megawatts.
âWith the opportunities and resources entrusted to the current government in 2017, we shouldnât have been experiencing dumsor at all,â he said, emphasizing the need for better management within the energy sector.
In response, the acting Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Ing. Asamoah David, assured the public that the recent power challenges are being addressed and that improvements are expected in the coming weeks. However, Nana Amoasi VII expressed skepticism about these assurances, suggesting they are not credible. He emphasized that the country had enjoyed a stable power supply before 2017 and blamed the current government for mismanagement.
Nana Amoasi VII also accused the administration of withholding crucial information about the energy sector. He claimed that this lack of transparency is in stark contrast to previous administrations, where data was more accessible, enabling better public analysis and recommendations for improvement.
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The term âdumsorâ became widely known during the tenure of former President John Mahama, who faced frequent power outages. The previous government made efforts to stabilize the power sector before losing the 2016 election to the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration under President Akufo-Addo. While power stability was largely maintained in the early years of the NPP administration, recent months have seen a return to intermittent outages. These challenges have been attributed to the governmentâs inability to settle debts owed to Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
In October, one of the major IPPs, Sunon Asogli, suspended operations due to unpaid debts. Since then, three additional IPPs have reduced power supply, warning of a potential total shutdown if the government fails to address their financial concerns.
