President John Dramani Mahama has reassured Ghanaians that the recent power outages in parts of the country are linked to ongoing system upgrades, not a resurgence of the prolonged electricity crisis known as dumsor. His remarks follow growing public concern over intermittent supply, with fears of a return to the erratic disruptions that once affected households and businesses nationwide.
During a visit to the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) as part of his Resetting Ghana tour, President Mahama explained that the outages are tied to a nationwide programme to modernise electricity distribution infrastructure and strengthen long-term reliability. He revealed that the government has procured about 2,500 transformers under the first phase of a broader intervention to replace ageing and overloaded equipment across the country.
“I want to appeal to our people. The outages you are experiencing are not dumsor. They are necessary to ensure better quality and stable power. Whenever transformers are being replaced, residents in affected areas should be informed so they understand their lights will be off temporarily,” he said.
The President noted that many of the country’s existing transformers have become inadequate due to rapid population growth and expanding communities, citing instances where equipment installed decades ago can no longer meet current demand.
He expressed optimism that the ongoing upgrades would significantly stabilise power supply once completed, adding that the exercise would be sustained in phases to ensure continuous improvement in service delivery.
Highlighting the role of local industry, President Mahama welcomed the increasing production of transformers within Ghana, describing it as a step towards building domestic capacity in the energy sector.
“One of the things I’m happy about is that a lot of these transformers are made in Ghana. It helps multiply the benefits for our country. I look forward to the day when all our transformers will be produced locally, helping us fully stabilise the power situation in our country,” he added.
The President also called on both Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and NEDCo to improve their responsiveness to customer complaints, stressing the need for faster fault resolution and better communication with consumers.
“NEDCo, ECG, we must now improve our customer response time. And so we need a system where when customers call, there’s a quick response to either rectify faults,” he urged.
For his part, the Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, said the rollout of the new transformers had already begun in several parts of the country, including Tamale, Accra and Tema, with further installations planned for Kumasi and other regions.
He explained that the exercise is designed to address overloaded transformers, reduce outages and improve overall system stability, adding that the first phase of the programme is expected to run for three months before transitioning into medium- and long-term targets.
The minister appealed to the public to remain patient during the upgrade works, assuring that customers would be notified in advance of planned outages.
Together, the interventions form part of a wider government strategy to modernise Ghana’s electricity distribution network, improve reliability and prevent a recurrence of past power supply challenges.
Source: GraphicOnline
