The Minority has accused President John Mahama’s government of plunging the country back into a power crisis, popularly known as ‘dumsor’, just two months into his new administration.
In a counter address to Mahama’s State of the Nation speech, the Minority, led by Stephen Amoah, MP for Nhyiaeso, said the return of erratic power supply is hurting businesses and households across the country.
“After 7th January 2025, the Government of President Mahama has failed to keep the lights on,” Amoah said on Thursday. “Businesses, particularly small ones like dressmakers, ice water sellers, and hair salons, are suffering due to the return of dumsor.”
The government has attributed the outages to maintenance works on the West Africa Gas Pipeline. However, the Minority questioned why similar maintenance under the previous administration did not result in prolonged blackouts.
“We do not know whether under the NPP government, the Gas Pipeline was going through similar maintenance. If so, why were the lights on, but cannot be on today because of the maintenance of the Pipeline?” Amoah asked.
The outages are particularly affecting the health sector, with hospitals and clinics struggling to maintain operations. “Many hospitals and clinics have started counting their losses as medical patients have become more exposed to the risks of survival due to the inability of these facilities from conducting regular operations,” the Minority statement read.
The opposition warned that the power crisis could worsen if the government does not publish a load-shedding timetable. “We wish now to call on President Mahama to cause ECG and NEDCo to publish a timetable to guide the current load shedding which at the moment is not good for planning by people and businesses,” Amoah said.
The Minority also criticised the government’s track record on electricity tariffs, claiming the administration is preparing to hike tariffs despite failing to provide stable power.
“We are very certain in our minds that from next month this government intends to increase electricity tariffs even as the government is failing to provide us with stable electricity,” Amoah added.
Comparing tariff adjustments under different administrations, the Minority said the Mahama-led government increased electricity tariffs by a cumulative 294.6% between 2009 and 2016, while the previous NPP government only raised tariffs by 57.45% between 2017 and 2024.
“Mr. President, if you do this you will go into history as the only president to have increased electricity prices in his first year during the last 20 years,” Amoah said.
The opposition urged Mahama to follow the example of his predecessor, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, whom they credited for prioritising lives and property during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
“He was able to avoid a return to dumsor throughout his tenure. But what do we see today? You are just two months old, and you cannot keep the lights on? What a shame – Ghana is indeed happening to all of us,” Amoah said.
