A former board member of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Ishmael Agyekumhene, has sharply criticised Energy Minister John Jinapor for the worsening power crisis in Ghana, accusing him of failing to adequately prepare for fuel shortages despite being in office for nearly four months.
Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Thursday, May 15, Agyekumhene questioned the Minister’s apparent lack of foresight in securing sufficient liquid fuel to power the country’s thermal plants.
“It’s unacceptable that we’re hearing today that we have only 2.6 days of liquid fuel left,” Agyekumhene said. “This isn’t just a case of unforeseen disruptions—this is a failure to plan. Four months is long enough to have made arrangements to secure the fuel we need.”
His comments follow the Minister’s recent disclosure to Parliament’s Energy Committee that Ghana’s current fuel stock is critically low, with funds urgently needed to replenish supplies.
Lack of Financial Discipline in the Power Sector
Agyekumhene argued that the crisis is not just about fuel shortages but reflects deeper financial mismanagement within the power sector.
“The real issue is our inability to pay for power we’ve already consumed. No one sells crude oil on credit, yet we’re in this position because we haven’t fixed our revenue collection issues,” he stated.
He noted that a single cargo of crude oil costs approximately $50 million, a sum Ghana is struggling to raise due to persistent financial shortfalls in the sector.
Inconsistent Energy Policy
Agyekumhene also took a swipe at Jinapor for shifting positions on the country’s power capacity.
“When he was in opposition, the Minister kept insisting we had no excess capacity. Now, in government, he acknowledges that we do, but we still can’t pay for the power we’re generating,” he said.
He stressed the need for a strategic approach to fuel management, urging the government to prioritize gas, which is cheaper and more efficient than liquid fuels.
“If we can’t secure gas, we should at least have a month’s worth of liquid fuel in strategic reserves, not just two days,” Agyekumhene concluded.
Call for Immediate Reforms
He called on the government to address the root causes of the crisis, including fixing revenue leaks at the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), improving billing systems, and ensuring timely payments to power producers to prevent future crises.
With the country’s power sector at a critical juncture, energy experts warn that failure to act swiftly could lead to prolonged outages, higher electricity costs, and further damage to Ghana’s economic recovery efforts.
