Flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr John Mahama, has attributed the current power outages in the country, popularly known as “dumsor” to the government’s mismanagement of the country’s power-generating assets and the collateralisation of the Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA).
The ESLA was established to consolidate levies collected in the energy sector. It aims to provide funding for power generation, support road maintenance, and facilitate the clearance of legacy debts within the sector.
The act also promotes prudent and efficient utilisation of proceeds generated from the levies and facilitates sustainable long-term investments in the energy sector.
Addressing members of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in Accra on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, the former President explained that the mishandling of ESLA has led the country back to “dumsor”
He advised the government to take responsibility for the problem and work to address it.
“The country has been plunged into darkness. Mismanagement about generating assets and collateralisation of ESLA which was meant to provide the resources to finance current and legacy debt has led us back to dumsor. The best government can do is to eat a humble pie, take responsibility for the problem and work to address it. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I’m aware that businesses and households cannot plan because of the erratic power situation,” he noted.
Mr Mahama also criticised the Energy Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, over his recent response to the public for demanding a load-shedding timetable amidst the power outages.
The Minister in an interview recently, objected to calls for the issuance of a load-shedding timetable by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and asked those demanding the timetable to bring one themselves.
The Minister’s comment, according to the NDC’s leader, was disrespectful.
He, therefore, urged the government to address the country’s power crisis promptly.
He stressed on the need for the government to provide a schedule to enable citizens to plan their energy consumption amidst the power supply challenges.
“…. Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who was one of the frontline participants of the “Dumsor must stop campaign”, while in opposition is reported to have said, those asking for a load-shedding timetable wish ill for the country and they should publish their schedule. This is most disrespectful to Ghanaians and the customers of electric power. There is absolutely no doubt that businesses strive in a stable macroeconomic environment where revenue measures are designed to motivate the local production for growth and fiscal consolidation,” the former President said.
Source: graphic.com
