Current ‘dumsor’ not technical but is a financing issue - Minority

The Ranking Member on the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Yapei Kusawgu, John Abdulai Jinapor, has contradicted claims by the ECG regarding the ongoing power outages in the country, asserting that "dumsor" is indeed back.

John Jinapor stated in an interview that the current load shedding being experienced in the country is not technical, but involves financing.

This, he added, is due to mismanagement, gross abuse of the waterfall mechanism, and the misapplication of funds.

"I can confirm that contrary to the false impression emanating from ECG that they are in the process of maintaining some transformers, the reality is that there is a deficit in generation," he stated.

He explained that a deficit in generation indicates that the generation capacity cannot meet the demand, necessitating load shedding.

According to him, this situation has persisted for over two months.

He expressed dismay at the energy sector's management of the issue, and for their refusal to acknowledge the generation challenge.

John Jinapor also attributed this challenge to the government's failure to support ECG in procuring fuel.

"We have been monitoring the situation, and just yesterday, we laid hands on the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission’s cash waterfall mechanism validation report for January 2024 payment," Jinapor added.

He highlighted the importance of transparency in such matters, noting that the IMF mandates the publication of energy sales payments every month.

He lamented the mismanagement, gross abuse of the waterfall mechanism, and misapplication of funds, attributing them to the current financing issue that is causing the load shedding.

NAY/AE