New Patriotic Party (NPP) stalwart, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, made some observations about the increasing power crisis in the country. Gabby, who is a relative of President Akufo-Addo, sought answers over what he considers to be the sudden power outages being experienced in most parts of the country.
For him, it’s strange that while the country, at the peak of its economic turmoil in 2022 kept the lights on, it is struggling to do same now that it has made some progress in its economy. “There is something mysteriously amiss somewhere.
You have managed to keep the lights on for 7yrs, even during the height of the economic crisis in 2022. Why now? Still scratching my head…” Gabby noted. There has been widespread criticism of the government lately with citizens and business owners expressing fury over how their lights go off for more than 12 hours a day.
A significant size of the public has also questioned whether ‘dumsor’ is back and asked the government to share a timetable to enable them to plan their activities properly. But the government has been adamant that what is being experienced in the country is not ‘dumsor’ but rather equipment issues which are being addressed.
In response to growing pressure on the Electricity Company of Ghana to release a load-shedding plan, Minister of Energy Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh challenged the public to create their own load-shedding timetable.
“Let those who want the timetable bring it. I don’t know of any timetable because the ECG has said it is not necessary. Why would someone just wish evil for the country?” the minister asked. Meanwhile, Dr Prempeh has been heavily criticized by Ghanaians for his response to the situation, calling it insulting and lacking respect for the people.
Also, the members of the minority caucus on the Energy Committee of Parliament have voiced significant opposition to Dr. Prempeh’s explanations for the power disruptions. The spokesperson for the minority on energy, John Jinapor, stated that the Minister should not have responded to the public’s requests in this way.
