Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh has launched a fierce attack on the Mahama administration over the return of persistent power outages.
He warned that the worsening energy crisis is destroying businesses, jobs and public confidence.
In an open letter addressed to President John Mahama on Wednesday, the Nsawam-Adoagyiri MP described the recurring outages as a major governance failure with devastating economic consequences.
“The return of persistent load-shedding popularly known as ‘dumsor’, which continues to plague Ghanaian homes, businesses, and critical public institutions”, is deeply worrying, he stated.
According to him, despite repeated assurances that dumsor had ended, “the reality on the ground tells a starkly different story.”
He said businesses across the country are struggling to survive because of the erratic power supply.
“Businesses, such as cold-store operators, are struggling. A fishmonger in Tema who invests GHS 10,000 in stock can lose everything in a single unannounced 18-hour outage,” he wrote.
He added: “Restaurants are closing, salons are laying off apprentices, and small-scale manufacturers cannot meet production targets.”
Mr Annoh-Dompreh also accused the government of contradicting itself after introducing the GH¢1 fuel levy, with promises to stabilise the power supply and reduce fuel prices.
“Today, the evidence contradicts,” he stated.
“When you took office, a litre of diesel was approximately GHS 14.20; it is now GHS 16.20. Petrol has jumped from GHS 11.40 to over GHS 13.20.”
He argued that businesses cannot operate under the current conditions.
“Businesses cannot operate six hours consecutively, yet you promise a 24-hour economy. Layoffs are mounting because employers cannot afford to run generators on fuel that now includes your levy. This is not governance; it is a contradiction.”
The Minority Chief Whip said Ghana’s current installed power capacity should have prevented the return of widespread outages, insisting the problem points to deeper structural failures in the energy sector.
“Dumsor is not just a technical fault; it is a policy failure that is bleeding jobs and hope,” he stressed.
He blamed recurring generation deficits, gas supply shortfalls and transmission failures for the persistent outages.
Mr Annoh-Dompreh urged the President to implement sweeping reforms in the energy sector, including merging key state power institutions, engaging Independent Power Producers to restore generation capacity, and suspending the GH¢1 fuel levy.
He also called on government to publish the energy sector’s financial audit and establish an emergency energy sector task force to address the crisis.
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