Declare dumsor now! – Minority to Akufo-Addo

The Minority in parliament through its spokesperson on Energy, Mr Adam Mutawakilu, has asked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to officially declare a state of erratic power supply (Dumsor) to enable Ghanaians to plan their lives properly and not be taken by surprise in the wake of the recent power supply challenges in parts of Ghana.

On Tuesday, 12 March 2019, parts of the country, including western and central Accra, as well as the northern part of Ghana, experienced a widespread power outage.

Although the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) apologised for it and assured the public that it will continue to work with all the power stakeholders to provide adequate supply to customers, the situation worsened on Wednesday, 13 March 2019.

Although the government has attributed the blackout to technical challenges, the Minority insists the problem is a result of financial challenges in the power sector.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, 14 March 2019, Mr Mutawakilu said: “We don’t have money, we have a generation shortfall and, as a result, GRIDCo had to shed load and that is what is affecting us. And since November, we’ve consistently had load shedding but it’s not widespread as it happened the day before yesterday and yesterday; and, as we speak, many other areas are still experiencing it.

“There is a huge shortfall of over 1,000 megawatts and that is where we are. And I want President Nana Akufo-Addo to officially declare dumsor and come out with a load shedding timetable so that Ghanaians who want to store food or protect their gadgets can do that because this is causing a lot of havoc to gadgets. Businesses have been shut down all of a sudden and he must do the honourable thing by officially declaring that we have dumsor”.