By: Gloria Amoh
The Deputy Minority Leader and the Member of Parliament for Ellembelle, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has urged the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to promptly release a load-shedding timetable to help households and businesses make the necessary arrangements.
Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah stressed the importance of transparency from the government and its Power Sector Agencies to inform the public accurately about the load-shedding exercise.
The Deputy Minority Leader stated that Ghana is currently grappling with a severe case of load shedding, commonly known as ‘dumsor’. The situation is evidently clear, with 500 MW of load being shed as of January 9th, 2024.
Mr Armah-Kofi Buah intimated that numerous areas have been plunged into darkness due to the unavailability of gas to fuel thermal plants within the Tema enclave, which can be attributed to financial constraints.
In a statement, he said, “specifically, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is currently unable to fulfill its payment obligations to the West African Gas Pipeline, which is responsible for transporting gas from Takoradi to Tema for power generation. You can also track the ultimate problem to the weakest link in the value chain—ECG’s inability to pay off-takers.”
Compounding the situation is the absence of a load-shedding timetable, which hampers households and businesses from planning accordingly, he noted.
“Lack of transparency and communication regarding the power outage schedule only adds to the frustration and inconvenience experienced by the affected population” the Ellembelle Lawmaker indicted.
“It is worth highlighting that even during the worst periods of Dumsor in the past, the power outage never reached the 500-megawatt threshold currently being shed, yet the media associated with the NPP interestingly see this as no “Dumsor.”
“Their loud silence on the current situation is deafening. The Ghana Grid Company must, as a matter of urgency, come out with a load-shedding timetable to allow households and businesses to plan better” Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah.
