The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee, John Jinapor, has alleged that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is destabilizing the systems responsible for generating electrical power in the country.
Jinapor warns that the ongoing electricity crisis, reminiscent of the infamous “dumsor” era, could have severe consequences, especially with the 2024 general elections on the horizon.
Unfortunately, he believes the blame and consequences of the collapsing systems may unfairly fall on the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and former President John Dramani Mahama when he is able to reclaim the presidency.
“From the look of things and how they are going, the systems will collapse, and by the time NDC and former President John Dramani Mahama take over, everything would have been ruined, and people will blame John Mahama,” warns Jinapor.
The former Minister of State asserts that there seems to be a lack of concrete plans and strategies to address the electricity crisis, potentially leading to further setbacks for the country.
According to Jinapor, the situation could worsen, impacting the nation’s power supply just as Ghanaians head to the polls in 2024.
Expressing skepticism about ECG’s explanations that the current power outages are solely due to the repair of faulty transformers, Jinapor alleges that ECG is avoiding acknowledging the actual problem, a generation challenge stemming from the government’s failure to support ECG in procuring sufficient fuel.
He points out that ECG fell short by 500 megawatts, generating only 3000 megawatts instead of the required 3,543.
Jinapor also dismissed ECG’s assertion that maintenance works are being carried out at night, stating that routine maintenance typically occurs in the afternoon, contrary to ECG’s claims.
“They claim they have in their possession an amount of money to buy fuel, when they buy it, Ghanaians will be comfortable for a while, and the lights outs will reduce, but what happens when the fuel is finished? The ‘dumsor’ starts again,” he stated.
“Transformers do not get overloaded overnight, it builds up. So what is ECG’s maintenance culture? What is their investment culture? That even tells you that they are not doing the right thing.
“Because you can’t have the whole of Ghana suddenly all our transformers getting overloaded overnight. It’s never the case. It takes time. It builds up and as it builds up, you put in more transformers, you upgrade the transformers so that you can hold the system,” he said.
He has however advised ECG to set aside all forms of political biases, come forward to tell Ghanaians what he calls the “truth” and look into sustainable ways that can address the power crisis once and for all.
By Lois Dogbe