Deputy Energy Minister Richard Gyan Mensah has revealed that he deliberately removed the generator from his home to experience the same power outages faced by ordinary Ghanaians.
Speaking on PM Express with Evans Mensah, he said the decision was personal and aimed at grounding his understanding of the crisis.
“Immediately I was given my position as the deputy Energy Minister, I took off the generator… I took it off because at that point I wanted to feel Ghanians go through when the light goes off, I want to experience it.”
He explained that rising demand at the start of the year has strained the power system.
“At the beginning of the year, demand quickly shot up… So demand shooting up means that the sources of distribution… there’ll be a lot more pressure… in some areas, the transformers became overloaded.”
According to him, investigations revealed that overloaded transformers were behind outages in several communities, though response teams have been quick to act.
“Most of the cases… There has been a very prompt response time to the complaints.”
But beyond the technical challenges, the minister said he wanted to feel the outages firsthand.
“If my light goes off, I quickly… receive a call that, oh, our area, the light has gone off… Sometimes send a text message to them… they get back to me… that they have done this.”
He added that he actively monitors restoration efforts. “Sometimes I can monitor the power immediately… they would report back to me that the power is back.”
Pressed during the interview, he confirmed the personal sacrifice. “Exactly,” he said when asked if he sleeps in the dark.
The decision, he admitted, has not been easy at home. “For one year, even though I’m having some issues… I will be comfortable with it, but my wife will not be comfortable with that.”
Still, he said the experience has changed his perspective.
“People really… measure us by how they are able to get constant and reliable power… I wanted to also be in that ordinary state to see when somebody’s light goes off, how it feels.”
He stressed that without this, the crisis could seem distant. “Maybe you might see it as abstract. But now, when the light goes off, my light goes off as well.”
The minister disclosed that he has resisted alternatives like solar power to stay aligned with the reality of most citizens.
“Installing solar could do it, but if I install solar, then you will feel that what about the ordinary Ghanaian who doesn’t have what it takes to install solar?”
He recounted a recent outage at home. “Last Saturday… between 6am and about 12pm … the light was off. I was in the house with my kids, even though I was calling Akosombo every now and then to check up on what’s happening.”
Despite the discomfort, he said the move is temporary. “I’m looking at improving the system… when I know Ghanaians are okay, I’ll bring it back.”
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