Dumsor looms, Mahama’s govt must act swiftly – IES

The Institute for Energy Security (IES) has issued a dire warning about an impending power crisis, commonly referred to as ‘dumsor,’ urging the Mahama administration to take immediate action.

This follows concerns raised by John Abdulai Jinapor, Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu, who cited a severe fuel shortage as the root cause of the looming crisis.

Speaking after the inauguration of President John Dramani Mahama in Accra on Tuesday, January 7, 2024, Jinapor revealed that Ghana’s current fuel stock is critically low, with only five hours of fuel supply remaining.

He criticized the outgoing administration for failing to secure sufficient fuel, leaving the incoming government in a vulnerable position.

Backing these claims, Nana Amoasi VII, Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Security (IES), highlighted the fragile state of Ghana’s power sector during an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM.

He attributed the crisis to systemic inefficiencies and poor planning, stressing the urgent need for reforms to prevent prolonged power outages.

The IES and other stakeholders are calling for decisive action to address the situation and stabilize the country’s power supply.

“It is not something that we were not expecting. Being watchers of the space, we knew very well that we had a very fragile power sector stemming from systemic inefficiencies, including poor planning,” Nana Amoasi VII stated.
He emphasised the reliance on natural gas and the lack of adequate backup or stock of liquid fuel, which has left the country exposed to potential power outages.

“Today we are more reliant on natural gas, but thank God almost all the plants that we have in Ghana, excluding the hydro ones and the solar, all of them can run on liquid fuel as well. But we knew that we don’t have any backup or any stock of liquid fuel in adequate form, so we knew that at a certain point in time we could be exposed,” he explained.

Nana Amoasi VII expressed disappointment that no procurement or lifting arrangements were made during the transition to ensure a seamless power supply.

“Unfortunately, we were expecting that as part of the transition arrangement, some form of procurement or lifting would have been made to ensure that there is no gap left within the space, but our checks indicate that we don’t have enough liquid fuel to give us that reliance and assurance that we won’t have any shock in power supply,” he added.

The IES Executive Director appealed to the current administration to take immediate action to address the looming crisis.

“So we will appeal to the men in charge today to get back to work and start work as soon as possible. Either than that, we are largely exposed,” he stated.