Power challenges: GRIDCo CEO being economical with truth - Dr. Donkor

A former Power Minister, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, says the Ghana Grid Company, GRIDCo, should come clean on the true cause of recent challenges in the country’s power sector.

According to him, the issue was a financial hurdle and not due to the official position that blames the challenges on technical faults.

“If the GRIDCo CEO says money is not an issue then he is being very economical with the truth. Unfortunately as a country we are continuously driven by populism aligned to electoral cycles rather than looking at things in sustainable national interests,” the former minister said.

Dr. Donkor was speaking on Accra-based Citi FM's weekend news analysis program, The Big Issue on Saturday, April 3, 2021.

Intermittent power outages over the last few months have triggered concerns that Ghana was headed back into the days of power rationing known as 'dumsor.'

GRIDCo last week moved to allay the fears insisting that the cause of the outages are strictly technical.

In a statement of Wednesday, March 31, 2021, the company called for calm saying, “Recent media engagements by GRIDCo, about ongoing projects in the power sector, appear to have heightened perceptions of impending nationwide power cuts. GRIDCo wishes to assure the public that it has no intention of embarking on a nationwide load shedding programme.”

The statement continued: “GRIDCo is working with ECG, MiDA, and other stakeholders to ensure minimum impact on customers in the affected areas.

"GRIDCo is assuring all Ghanaians that there is a concerted effort by all stakeholders, led by the Energy Ministry, to ensure a consistent, accessible and reliable power supply at all times.”