President John Dramani Mahama did what was perhaps expected of him by spending a considerable amount of time to praise himself and his government for providing an emergency solution to Ghana’s power crisis popularly referred to as ‘dumsor’.
Addressing Parliament on Thursday during his last State of the Nation Address, the President reminded Ghanaians of his promise at a similar event in 2015, to fix the recurring power crisis, emphasizing that he has fulfilled that promise.
He said nearly 800 megawatts has been added to the national grid through the procurement of more power plants.
“A year ago, I stood before this very august house and promised to fix the power sector deficit that at the time had become a significant constraint to the economic growth and a destruction to Ghanaians both home and at work. This was a time of considerable national anxiety. The deficit brought about a severe power rationing and I was very much concerned. Ghanaians had to sleep in darkness or spend money to fuel generators. Businesses faced challenges, and I expressed my full regret to the nation and I took full responsibility as President and leader of this nation and commander in Chief. It has not been easy. It has been a year of hard work; Hard work that has made us to achieve the fastest mobilization of emergency power in the history of Ghana.”
“About 800 megawatts of power has been added to our generation within the shortest period of time. Fast-tracking the finalisation and commissioning of KTPP added 220 megawatts, Fast-tracking the commissioning of TICO’s combine cycle added 110 megawatts, mobilizing Karpower added another 220 megawatts, and Mr. Speaker, as I speak, Ameri is adding 250 megawatts extra power to our transmission grid. In addition, 180 of Asogli phase two is also available as soon as we can get extra gas for it.”
Much work needs to be done
While taking praise and consolation in somewhat ending the nearly four-year crisis, the President noted that a lot more work needs to be done to sustain the country’s energy supply.
“…But much work still needs to be done to give us the comfort of sustainable generation going forward. I salute the former Power Minister Dr. Kwabena Donkor, and his Deputy Minister John Jinapor and their team of competent technical people. Mr. Armah Kofi Buah and his team at the Petroleum Ministry I salute them. I salute the CEOs and staff of the Energy Commission, PURC, Gridco, TICO, Ministry of Finance, ECG and others. It has taken teamwork and the cooperation of many people to achieve this success. I thank all who stood with me to overcome this challenge that our nation faced. I thank this august house for passing the agreements that made it possible for us to procure these additional plants.
By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie
