"Stop talking, Fix the Lights before, 24-Hour Economy becomes 24-Hour blackout”, NPP tells Government

Minority Caucus led by, MP for Asene Manso Akroso Ranking Member, Mine and Energy committee, George Kwame Aboagye has called the Government to fix the looming energy challenges and stop talking.

According to them, The Minister’s recent claim that Ghana has only “2.6 days of fuel left” was not just baseless, but economically damaging. Such remarks create an atmosphere of uncertainty and instability, which is detrimental to investor confidence.

HE SAID, “Power is the lifeblood of industry, and such statements send panic through businesses still recovering from the aftershocks of COVID-19 and global economic turbulence. This is not the first time the Minister has made statements that paint a bleak picture of our energy situation”.

George Kwame Aboagye made these claims on Monday, May, 2025 at news conference in Parliament.

BELOW IS THE FULL STATEMENT:

MINORITY CAUCUS PRESS CONFERENCE ON GHANA’S POWER CRISIS: “STOP THE TALKING, FIX THE LIGHTS – BEFORE THE 24-HOUR ECONOMY BECOMES A 24-HOUR BLACKOUT”

*Delivered by the Minority Caucus of the Energy Committee of Parliament*

We, the Minority Caucus, wish to address the alarming state of Ghana’s power sector, particularly in light of recent comments made by the Minister of Energy and Green Transitions. His statements have not only instilled fear among Ghanaians but have also sent troubling signals to the business community. It is imperative that the Minister shifts his focus from public pronouncements to tangible actions that will resolve the ongoing issues plaguing our power sector. It looks like our colleague the Minister of Energy, seems more interested in making headlines than keeping the lights on.

The Minister’s recent claim that Ghana has only “2.6 days of fuel left” was not just baseless, but economically damaging. Such remarks create an atmosphere of uncertainty and instability, which is detrimental to investor confidence. Power is the lifeblood of industry, and such statements send panic through businesses still recovering from the aftershocks of COVID-19 and global economic turbulence. This is not the first time the Minister has made statements that paint a bleak picture of our energy situation. During the swearing-in ceremony of the President, he alarmingly stated that Ghana was left with “only 5 hours of fuel,” a comment he later retracted after clarifying that it pertained to Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) – after causing needless anxiety, while neglecting to mention that other power plants were operational with available fuel. His subsequent assurances following the “2.6 days of fuel” comment do little to alleviate our concerns. This pattern of “panic-then-retreat” communication is unacceptable. The Minister must stop frightening Ghanaians and start fixing the problems.

The Double DD Legacy: Debt & Dumsor Left by the Previous NDC Government:

As a seasoned member of the Energy Committee and former Deputy Minister, we expected the Minister to confront these challenges head-on rather than resorting to political rhetoric. Let us be clear, the current administration when leaving office in 2017 left the sector in critical condition which culminated into legacy issues. Four years of **relentless dumsor**, where businesses collapsed, hospitals struggled, and students studied under candlelight.

Faced with this mess, the NPP government took decisive action and less talking:

On January 7, 2017, the Nana Addo government took over an energy sector burdened with over $2 billion in debt, primarily due to Excess Capacity Payments linked to legacy “take-or-pay” contracts. These poorly negotiated contracts imposed an annual financial burden of nearly $1 billion on our economy for power that was neither needed nor utilized. In a parliamentary response, then Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta confirmed that the previous administration was paying $500 million annually in excess capacity charges for power that was negotiated but ultimately unnecessary.

In response to these financial strains, the Nana Addo government introduced the Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA) bond in 2017, which provided much-needed relief to the industry. The Minister himself acknowledged that the previous government spent 24 billion Ghana cedis on fuel purchases in 2024 alone, with projections of 30 billion cedis for this year. This admission underscores the significant efforts made by the previous administration to ensure a stable power supply.

Despite these challenges, it is crucial to note that transmission and distribution losses in the sector remain alarmingly high, exceeding 35%. The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) continues to face revenue mobilization difficulties, power theft, etc., yet the Nana Addo government managed to keep the lights on for eight consecutive years. During that time, outages did not exceed a month, and Ghanaians were not subjected to prolonged periods of “dumsor” unlike the four year nightmare of President John Mahama.

Investments in the Energy Sector:

It is worthy to note that the last previous government through prudent additions, strategically increased our generation capacity based on demand growth and needs assessment by 1600 MW between 2017 and 2024 which include TT2PP, Amandi, Early Power, Bui Solar and floating -55 MW, Laura/Kaleo solar – 32.5 MW with Yendi Solar project of about 90 MW coming on board this year. There was also significant investment in Transmission including the 330kv Prestea – Kumasi, 225 KV Burkina Faso Interconnection project, 330 KV Aboadze – Prestea line, Berekum Project, 330 KV Kumasi – Bolgatanga Transmission lines, 161 KV Volta – Achimota-Mallam lines, Accra 4th Bulk supply Points project, Kasoa Substation etc. We also increased the national electricity access to 88.85% among other investments in the sector.

The 24-Hour Economy? More Like a 24-Hour Blackout:

The President campaigned on a “24-hour economy”—his bold vision requiring **uninterrupted power**. But how can the private sector businesses, hospitals, agro processing factories, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, extractive industry, hospitality, educational institutions, tourism, and entertainment industry (creatives, film and music) operate around the clock when the lights keep going off?

Ghanaians Will Run Out of Patience Soon:

We acknowledge the financial challenges in the sector. But leadership is about solutions, not excuses. The Minister must:

Stop the fear-mongering and focus on fixing fuel supply issues for IPPs.
Engage stakeholders to renegotiate burdensome take-or-pay contracts.
Strategically set KPIs for ECG and NEDCO to reduce operational and distribution losses and improve revenue collection.
Address challenges of the Cash Water Fall mechanism and enforce it.
Diversify the Energy Mix with renewables and Gas optimization (maximize Jubilee and TEN fields to reduce reliance on imported fuels.
Encourage off-peak consumption by industries to flatten demand curve.
Accelerate the roll-out of smart metering to curb theft and increase revenue mobilization.

We also understand and know some of the challenges are Forex related and believe the current appreciation of the Ghana cedi is an opportunity to recover some losses in the sector.

Today, however, a new generation (Generation Alpha’s) is experiencing power outages for the first time, reminiscent of the dark days of “dumsor” that plagued us from 2012 to 2016. A tragic irony- giving that their parents and siblings experiences the worst dumsor in our history under this same leadership. This is not merely a matter of nostalgia; it is a call to action. Ghanaians have already endured a 14.75% increase in electricity tariffs this year, and they rightfully expect a corresponding improvement in service quality and reliability.

We, the Minority Caucus, firmly believe that any increase in tariffs must be accompanied by enhanced service delivery. We cannot accept poor performance while paying exorbitant prices. The specter of returning to the dark days of “dumsor” is unacceptable. We recognize the financial challenges facing the industry, but if Minister John Jinapor requires assistance, he must seek it and prioritize action over rhetoric. And this shouldn’t be a window for him to sign on to dubious contracts which will saddle the industry as they were noted for.

In Conclusion Ladies and Gentlemen