Energy ministry: Days of “dumsor” over in Ghana
The former Minister for Power Dr Kwabena Donkor has warned that Ghana may return to the era of constant power outages if the government fails to invest in power generation
The Ministry of Energy has given assurance to Ghanaians that the country will never return to the era of nationwide load shedding, popularly known as “dumsor“, under Akufo-Addo.
The assurance comes after the former Minister for Power Dr Kwabena Donkor alleged Ghana risked being plunged into darkness again in the next two years, if the government fails to invest in power generation.
“I believe I have a responsibility to draw this country’s attention to the danger we are facing,” Donkor said at a press conference recently. “Fortunately, the minister for energy when he took office stated that there was the need for new generation, most people did not take that statement he made seriously, but we are crippling towards the abyss.”
“It takes a minimum of three years to bring on stream a new thermal plant. We seem to be sleepwalking into a situation of possible power outages as a result of supply limitation,” he said
However, in a statement on Thursday (7 April), the energy ministry said the government remains committed to solving challenges in the sector under the leadership of the current minister Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh.
“In line with our projected demand and the prudent management of the energy sector, the Ministry of Energy is confident that there is no way that the country will go back to the dark days of “dumsor”.
“We wish to urge Dr Donkor to first seek the correct information on this similar issues from the ministry in future before going public with pronouncement that are not only incorrect but also have the tendency to mislead the public and cause unnecessary concerns. This is particularly due to the fact that he is a former Minister for Power and his pronouncements therefore carry some weight,” the statement said.
“We urge Ghanaians to rest assured that the Ministry of Energy, under the leadership of Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh remains committed to solving challenge in the generation, transmission, and distribution system of the energy sector.”
Below is the full statement:
Fred Dzakpata
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