Power outages: Give us ‘Dumsor’ time table – Minority to Gov’t

The Minority in Parliament has bemoaned the recent power outages being experienced across the country.

The Minority said the power outage is due to gas shortages.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, 17 May 2023, signed by the Ranking Member, Mines and Energy Committee, John Abdulai Jinapor, the Minority noted that the current power outage “appears to be worsening with many parts of the country experiencing long hours of darkness without prior notice to consumers.”

It noted that: “While most Ghanaians have been witnessing intermittent power outages, others have been experiencing low currents and occasional high voltage leading to damages of their electrical gadgets and equipment in some cases.”

It further noted that: “It is a well-known fact especially, amongst energy sector players that the current outages the country is experiencing is due to gas shortages coupled with serious challenges with the procurement of alternative fuels due the precarious financial state of the Energy sector SOEs.

“Most of the Energy sector SOEs have continued to witness worsening financial positions since the assumption of office of President Akufo-Addo and Dr Bawumia, despite their administration receiving over GHS20 billion in ESLA revenues and about 40 billion cedis in petroleum revenues.”

The Minority, therefore, called on “Government and responsible government agencies to come clean on the current state of power outages as a matter of urgency and provide a schedule if need be to enable the ordinary consumer and industry to plan and avoid damages of their electrical equipment.”