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The Minority in Parliament has expressed alarm over the resurgence of load shedding in Ghana, attributing it to a power shortage of more than 500 megawatts as of Tuesday, September 25.
Although the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has issued notices of outages in various parts of the country, attributing them to routine maintenance, the minority believes the underlying cause is mismanagement of the energy sector.
Also read: TUSAAG declares a nationwide strike, effective September 27.
John Jinapor, the Minority’s Spokesperson on Energy, claimed that the power outages, commonly known as dumsor, are being hidden from the public by the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo). He alleged that GRIDCo had been instructed not to disclose the ongoing load shedding to customers, warning that the power deficit would continue to affect electricity supply nationwide.
Jinapor also highlighted the sector’s financial challenges, particularly unpaid debts. He pointed out that Tullow Ghana has not received payments for gas supplied over the last nine months, leading to threats of a gas supply cut. Additionally, Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are owed $1.2 billion, raising concerns that they may also halt power generation if the debt is not cleared.
The Minority accused the government of mismanaging the energy sector, with Jinapor describing the situation as “sad.” He further criticized the government for what he views as an attempt to pass on a failing energy sector to the next administration, warning of potential crises if the financial and operational issues are not urgently addressed.
