NDC can’t solve energy crisis – NPP USA

The New Patriotic Party branch in the United States (NPP-USA) says the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government cannot solve Ghana’s energy crisis popularly called, dumsor, and has asked the public to vote the party out of office in 2016.

According to them, “If Ghanaians are waiting for dumsor to be a thing of the past, they will have to wait until they vote the NPP into power in the 2016 elections, because President John Mahama-led NDC government has not only failed to resolve the problem, but in many ways they are telling Ghanaians they cannot do it.”

A news release issued yesterday by the Communications Department of the branch said, “Listening to President Mahama and some NDC officials and activists, hopes of resolving the current dumsor crisis only rest with the NPP.”

According to the release, public statements made by some NDC bigwigs including the president, showed clearly that the ruling government is bereft of ideas to transform Ghana.

“Not long ago, NDC’s Lawyer Amaliba blamed the energy crisis on tall buildings in Ghana particularly the ones at Villagio near Tetteh Quarshie Circle. Other NDC officials and activists have sought to blame the crisis on too many television sets, too many refrigerators. And just when we thought the NDC had run out of ridiculous excuses, up on a stage somewhere in the Gambia walked President Mahama to point to our mobile phones as the cause of our energy woes,” the release lamented.

The NPP activists in the US said, “If the NDC and President Mahama cannot even correctly diagnose the cause of dumsor, they certainly cannot be counted on to fix the problem. In effect, they are saying until all Ghanaians relinquish their mobile phones, give up their television sets, their refrigerators, and the demolishing crews demolish all tall buildings in Ghana, the problem of dumsor will forever stay with us.”

The release said that another evidence for President Mahama and the NDC’s failure was that, manipulating general elections to remain in power, “They have obviously come to their wits’ end because they keep asking the NPP to show them how to fix problems.”

NPP-USA queried, “Why else would they keep asking the NPP for alternative solutions when they claim they are better at fixing the nation’s problems than the NPP?”

“Here is an alternative solution to the dumsor problem that NPP-USA can freely offer to the clearly inept, clueless, and incompetent administration. President Mahama should retrieve all money fraudulently paid to NDC cronies. After that, he would realize there is enough money in Ghana to buy fuel to power the thermal plants that are lying idle,” it advised.

The members in the Diaspora recalled, “NPP government bequeathed unto the Mills/Mahama administration a total electricity generation capacity of 2,936 megawatts – almost five times the generation capacity needed during peak periods. Of this capacity, thermal plants have a combined generation capacity of over 1,300 megawatts.”

They asserted that in spite of the 2009 generation, only 650 megawatts were available currently for distribution “because the government has no money to buy fuel to power the plants.”

“This is surprising, considering this government was left with the lowest debt to GDP ratio – a billion dollars annually in oil revenue that no other Ghanaian government has ever had – and historic high levels of international market prices for gold and cocoa. In addition, the Mills/Mahama government has borrowed more than all previous governments combined.

“Moreover, at a time that oil is selling at historically low prices, this administration cannot find the money to buy enough fuel to power the thermal plants for Ghanaians to return to electricity adequacy that the NPP left behind in 2009,” the party noted.

NPP-USA grieved, “Debt to GDP ratio has climbed from 32% in 2009 to 67.1% in 2014. At 70%, it would be more difficult to borrow additional money to buy fuel to power the thermal plants.”

According to the statement, “In view of the NDC leadership paralysis in the face of our nation’s multi-faceted problems, Ghanaians have no choice but to vote NPP back to power come 2016.”