Ghanaians are tired of govt’s repeated assurances – Baako

The Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, believes the country would not be facing the current power crisis had the National Democratic Congress (NDC)-led administration followed laid-down structures.

According to him, former President John Agyekum Kufuor and his administration laid down structures which would have helped in the generation of more power for the country. He said those structures would have aided the country in producing its own gas instead of depending on Nigeria. However, when the NDC took over, they altered it.

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) released a new schedule for power rationing beginning Wednesday, 19th March, 2014, after another acute energy situation due to a generation problem from Aboadze.

According to the Energy ministry, gas from Nigeria to power the Aboadze plant has delayed leading to their inability to meet the 2000 megawatts of power needed by Ghanaians.

President John Dramani Mahama, as well as the Energy Ministry, have since apologized for the current energy situation and have asked Ghanaians to be patient.

Contributing to a panel discussion on ‘Kokrokoo’ Kweku Baako said Ghanaians are not accepting government’s apology because there has been too many unfulfilled promises in the past regarding providing solution to the country’s energy crisis. He said government needs to understand the frustration Ghanaians are going through because ‘they have heard it (assurances) over and over again….it is the same issue’.

“Yes there’s been an apology but people are finding it difficult to accept it because there has been a series of promises. The strategy they took over was clear and so if they had continued with it, we would not be facing this current problem. That policy change or shift led us to a virtual standstill on the gas project because by the original vision, by now the gas should be on board…but they claim to be in charge…thus we are challenged at this moment,” Kweku Baako bemoaned.