Former Member of Parliament for Ayensuano, Samuel Ayeh-Paye, has rebuffed claims of ‘dumsor’ in Ghana despite widespread power outages, emphasising technical issues as the root cause.
In recent months, Ghana has grappled with increased power cuts, prompting calls for a structured load-shedding plan.
Energy Minister Mathew Opoku Prempeh, refuting ‘dumsor’ claims in a recent media interview, challenged those advocating for a schedule to prove the existence of the phenomenon.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Citi FM and Citi TV, Ayeh-Paye pointed out that Ghana’s installed capacity is sufficient but faces operational hurdles, causing intermittent outages.
“We are having some power outages and according to the power agencies, they are saying that there is no ‘dumsor’ but technical challenges. ‘Dumsor’ happens when you don’t have enough power to produce or supply the exact peak demand that we need.
“As we speak, our peak production is around 3,600 megawatts, and what we get is a little below that and we have a shortfall, and what they [the power agencies] are saying is that the shortfall is not as a result of not having an installed capacity. The calculation is having about 5,000 plus installed capacity,” Ayeh-Paye stated.
He also dismissed claims of financial constraints affecting fuel procurement for power plants, attributing the outages to maintenance and operational issues within the power sector.
“What the [Energy] Ministry is telling us is that the issue is not about us not having money to buy fuel, the issue is about some of the plants being under maintenance and repairs and the ECG is also telling us that they have challenges with their transformers.”
Ayeh-Paye’s stance contradicts public perception, underscoring the complexities behind Ghana’s ongoing power disruptions.