ACCRA, Apr 28 (THE AFRICAN PORTAL) – Ghana’s parliamentary Minority on Tuesday rejected suggestions that a recent fire at the Akosombo substation triggered ongoing power outages, saying the disruptions began months earlier.
Speaking at a press conference on April 28, Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Energy Committee, Collins Adomako-Mensah, said the electricity crisis locally known as “dumsor” had affected millions since Jan. 25 and could not be linked to the April 23 incident alone.
“Ghana’s power crisis … was not caused by any accident at Akosombo. It was caused by this government,” he said.
Adomako-Mensah described the substation fire as “the latest and most dramatic symptom” of what he called a deteriorating power sector, blaming the administration for mismanagement.
He cautioned against attributing the outages solely to the incident, saying that would misrepresent the origins of the crisis.
“The government must not be permitted to use this incident as a convenient alibi for a crisis that predates it,” he said.
The Minority outlined a timeline of disruptions, saying unannounced outages had been reported nationwide before April 23.
According to Adomako-Mensah, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) had issued several maintenance notices and public apologies in April over unstable supply and damage to appliances.
He said the outages had strained households, businesses and essential services, with some communities experiencing prolonged blackouts and hospitals relying on generators.
The government has not yet responded to the Minority’s claims.
