The recent electricity disruptions Ghanaians experienced nationwide have been resolved, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has announced.
The President, in announcing the fixing of the problem, which he said was temporary, extended gratitude to Ghanaians “for their patience and understanding of recent temporary challenges with electricity supply across the country.”
Delivering his ultimate May Day address at the Black Star Square on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 President Akufo-Addo indicated that over the period, the issues surrounding the maintenance of transformers and gas supply have been successfully resolved.
This, he remarked, has resulted in a sufficient improvement in power supply reliability, stating further that over the past few days, power supply has been stable.
The president also stated that his government has for the past seven years worked tirelessly to keep the lights on, adding that “I am confident that the unfortunate error of Dumsor will not return.”
The President’s comments on the fixing of the power challenges followed those of his vice president and the Deputy Minister for Energy.
VEEP
On day one of his nationwide campaign, which commenced in the Eastern Region, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice President, who is also the flag bearer of the governing New Patriotic Party, said the intermittent power cuts would be over soon.
Dr. Bawumia was addressing the religious leaders in Akropong on Monday, April 29, 2024 where he admitted there were challenges and assured that the government was working to resolve them.
He said, “Currently, we have issues with power, but I say that from the information I have received from the Minister for Energy, those power challenges will very soon and I mean very soon, be a thing of the past.”
NEARLY THERE
The President and the Vice’s comments followed those of the Deputy Minister for Energy, who is also the Board Chairman of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Herbert Krapa, who, in Wa, about a week ago, said the issues were being fixed.
He said the government had put in place immediate measures to ensure the return of an uninterrupted supply of power to consumers.
“I can, therefore, state that the unfortunate power challenges Ghanaians are facing should be over in the next few days. We are fully confident that the measures being put in place should resolve the service interruptions,” he noted.
Herbert Krapa empathised with all consumers and apologised “unreservedly for the effects of the outages on our daily lives. Please bear with us. We are fixing it, and we are nearly there.”
Meanwhile, there were reports of power outages in some parts of the country, the day the President announced that the issue had been resolved.
However, it is not known whether those outages were as a result of localised faults, as the ECG had indicated some time ago.
TIER ONE
The Controller and Accountant General’s Department, the President said, has released an amount of GH¢55.4 million to facilitate the payment of the outstanding lump sum top ups to 5,819 beneficiaries starting from 2020. This is a lump sum top up for 2021 retirees under Act 766.
In his address to workers in Ghana to mark this year’s May Day, President Akufo-Addo said that notwithstanding arrears of Tier One contributions covering the period 2010–2021, his government has cleared the outstanding principal amount of GH¢2.46 billion.
This amount, he explained, was owed by the government to the trust through securitization in April 2024.
However, President Akufo-Addo asked the workers to note that a considerable chunk of these arrears were contracted during the period of the predecessor Mills-Mahama-led governments, and they made no efforts whatsoever to clear them.
TIER TWO
According to the President, the government has also paid GH¢99.7 million for nine months, covering July 2023 to March 2024, out of the outstanding GH¢993.9 million in Tier 2 contributions.
He continued that the government has agreed with organised labour on a payment plan to pay the balance in three equal tranches by August 2024 through a combination of cash payments and government papers.
The President told Ghanaians to expect a new labour law, which may be promulgated before 2024 ends.
He also mentioned that International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 194 on harassment at work has been tabled before the cabinet.
However, a decision has been taken for a committee of the Cabinet to undertake further comprehensive consultations on it before it is re-tabled before the Cabinet for action to be taken on it.
