President Nana Akufo-Addo has revealed that the hard work of government officials has ensured a constant power supply within the last few days despite challenges in the energy sector.
“I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Ghanaians for their patience and understanding during the recent temporary challenges with electricity supply across the country,” President Akufo-Addo said in his address to workers in commemoration of May Day, celebrated on the first day of May across the country.
He continued: “Over the period, the issues surrounding transformers and gas supply have been successfully resolved, resulting in sufficient improvement in power supply reliability”.
“Indeed, over the past few days, we have witnessed stable electricity supply across the country with no load-shedding reported anywhere yesterday.”
“For the past seven years, we have worked tirelessly to keep the lights on, and I am confident that the unfortunate era of dumsor will not return,” he added.
Several businesses have been negatively affected by intermittent power cuts in the last two months, and the operators and domestic users have been calling for measures to mitigate the impact.
During the same May Day activities, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) appealed to President Nana Akufo-Addo to urgently tackle the persistent power challenges in the country, commonly known as ‘dumsor’.
The Secretary-General of TUC, Dr Yaw Baah, emphasised the critical need for action to address the power challenges at the May Day celebrations held at the Black Star Square.
Dr Baah mentioned that Ghanaians could not afford to endure the effects of the power challenges any longer, as it severely impacted businesses and could lead to widespread unemployment if not resolved promptly.
“Mr President, my second appeal is about ‘dumsor’. Mr President, it is regrettable that the people of Ghana have to experience ‘dumsor’ again after all that we went through in the past. We have to go through it again. Please do something about it now!”
Meanwhile, the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA) has mounted intense pressure on the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to publish a load-shedding timetable so that its members can better plan their business activities.
In a statement, GUTA highlighted the significant impact of the power outages on various sectors, including agriculture, trade, and industry.
Various quarters, including Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), have called for ECG to release a load-management schedule, but there has been no positive response.
GUTA also decried the high operational costs incurred by businesses due to the irregular power supply, necessitating the heavy use of fuel to run generators.
“Moreover, the unpredictable power outages force many shop owners to rely on generators, leading to additional expenses for fuel procurement and storage in anticipation of power disruptions.
“Manufacturers, in particular, are grappling with maintaining production schedules and workforce planning due to the inconsistent power supply, which not only escalates production costs but also exacerbates the living conditions of citizens,” GUTA emphasised.