"Dumsor is back: Admit it and publish a load management schedule" – NDC to the government

The National Democratic Congress (NDC), the main opposition party, has urged the government of the new patriotic party to admit to Ghanaians that the day of the famous intermittent power outages known as "dumsor& # 39; are back.

According to the NDC, energy sector managers need to publish a load shed schedule to warn citizens.

The party's comment is a continuation of recent intermittent power cuts across the country.

The government insists dumsor No one is back and explained that the situation resulted from technical difficulties. Energy Minister John Peter Amewu had badured the country that the situation would stabilize in five days, but the problem persists in most parts of the country.

The NDC, in a statement signed by its national communications officer, Sammy Gyamfi, said the energy sector was in debt and the current challenges stemmed from "the inefficiency of the Akufo-Addo government and its poor management of the energy sector ".

DUMSOR IS BACK: ACCEPT IT AND PUBLISH A LOAD MANAGEMENT CALENDAR NOW.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) notes the undesirable return of persistent and persistent power outages, commonly known as "Dumsor". We wish to express our dismay and discomfort at the fact that the whole country has been experiencing power outages for months. now; Yet the Akufo-Addo government has refused to shed light on the current situation regarding this worrying issue.

While government spokespersons, including the Minister of Energy, have resorted to sometimes clever excuses and subterfuges to try to explain the concerns of Ghanaians, it is now clear that we are in an abnormal period. The fact of the matter is this, "Dumsor" is back; This has been corroborated by the African Center for Energy Policy (ACEP).

Ghana News Titles

For the latest news in Ghana, visit the Graphic Online titles page
Ghana News Page

As a reminder, it is important to remind the Ghanaian people: recent litany of explanations given by government when this phenomenon began to appear a few months ago. On March 12, 2019, we were told for the first time that this problem resulted from a disruption of the Western power transmission line and that the problem had been resolved within eight hours of its occurrence.

Then, on March 13, 2019, a different story appeared after another statement after the persistence of the problem. This time, construction work at the Pokuase Interchange was imputed, resulting in the rerouting of another transmission line.

Government initially informed us that this problem would last from March 14 to 19, 2019. Since then, the explanations and the rationalization of this problem have varied considerably, according to the government official who speaks.

The NDC believes that in the situation in which we find ourselves, the least expected of the Akufo-Addo government is the frankness and veracity of the facts. Managers in the energy subsector must be sincere and transparent with Ghanaians. The fact that the country is currently facing a deficit in electricity supply is the truth, and the sooner this power deficit (dumsor) will be officially declared, and a load management schedule released immediately, the better it will be for all of us. Our citizens deserve the right, and they must be given the respect to plan their daily lives in the face of these unsustainable challenges.
DISTURBANCES IN THE ENERGY SECTOR.
While the government, through the Ministry of Energy and its spokesman are Being efficient with the truth, the CDN is fully aware of the troubling events in the energy sector in Ghana and states as follows:
1. We are aware that the various utility companies have accumulated a debt of about 2 billion GHS under inherited debt in the space of only two years. It should be noted that the legacy debt was not created by the former John Mahama / NDC government. It was a debt accumulated from President Rawlings' time through the John Kuffour government to the last NLC government, hence the baptism "legacy debt". According to the Akufo-Addo government, this debt was estimated at 10 billion cedis.

2. During the tenure of President John Dramani Mahama, a financier The innovation was created under the Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA), through which the country levies about 3 billion Cedis in Ghana each year to settle its debt. . Therefore, the Akufo-Addo government has no excuse for forcing utility companies to the current huge debt. The sad reality however are the ESLA accounts poorly managed by this government? In 2017 alone, 600 million GHS funds were used by GHS to pay pension arrears. We immediately require a published list of all utilities that have benefited from the Energy Bond issued in 2018. The list must include the amount of each utility company and the amount of outstanding debt.

3. Currently, almost all state enterprises in the energy sector are in a precarious financial situation. PDS (formerly ECG) owes independent power generators a colossal amount of about US $ 1 billion, while VRA owes Ghana Gas Company an amount of US $ 735 million. VRA is also owed 160 million USD to ENI Gas and the government of Ghana owes GRIDCO, through ECG, an amount of 171 million USD. This catastrophic situation has a debilitating effect on the electricity sector and negatively affects Ghanaians.

4. The debt situation in the energy sector is deteriorating as a result of the continued depreciation of the Cedi and the mismanagement of the directors of the utility companies and the PURC appointed by the nuclear power plants . These factors have hindered the ability of these utilities to raise the necessary funds for fuel and other essential parts for their ongoing maintenance, resulting in widespread power grid disturbances.

5. It is important to note that most of our power plants operate on both crude and gas. Therefore, ongoing connection work in the West Zone is not expected to result in the electricity shortage we are currently experiencing, all the more so as it was a problem. planned project. activity of Ghana Gas. Therefore, the explanation given by the Ministry of Energy through the Director General of Ghana Gas is simply untenable. Attempt to also take journalists to feed the landfill centers Tema is just for optics and appears as a desperate attempt to conceal the truth, which revolves around the fact that we are living Dumsor because of the government's inability to buy light crude oil (LCO) to power our power plants .

6. At this point, it is important to remind the Ghanaian people that the former NDC government had inherited an energy sector facing many challenges. comprising, but are not limited to fuel insecurity, the lack of productive capacity and the precarious financial situation of utilities, among others.
However, these issues were effectively addressed by the Mahama administration in December 2015, so that generation capacity increased from 1,810 MW to 4,137.5 MW. In addition, the Mahama administration has secured our fuel sources through the investment of 1 billion US dollars in the Atuabo gas processing plant, which provides about 100 million of standard cubic feet of gas per day at our production plants. As we mentioned earlier, the NDC government has also introduced ESLA to deal with public service debt.
he so ask the question of why we are back in "Dumsor". The answer is simple: we are back in Dumsor because of the inefficiency of the Akufo-Addo government and its mismanagement of the energy sector.

CONCLUSION
The facts we have about the events in our electricity sector suggest that the Akufo-Addo government is looking in vain to paint a much more alarming picture. we so require governance to go beyond mere excuses and an attempt to de-escalate serious challenges. We call on the President and his representatives to confront this problem head on, recognizing that we are back in Dumsor and taking urgent action to resolve the situation. While, government must immediately publish a load shed schedule to allow Ghanaians to plan their lives and improve their lives. Ghana deserves better.

Sign.
SAMMY GYAMFI National Communication Officer, NDC