By Issah Olegor
Ghana is once again under the second term of President John Dramani Mahama’s administration grappling with a resurgence of erratic power supply—popularly known as dumsor—as households and businesses across the country endure prolonged outages, reigniting memories of one of the nation’s most challenging energy crises.
The situation has triggered sharp political exchanges, with critics accusing the government led by John Dramani Mahama of failing to provide clear explanations while allegedly shifting blame onto the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The current disruptions, which many residents say began intensifying about two months ago, have affected several communities nationwide, with some reporting consecutive nights without electricity.
The ECG according to sources is preparing ‘dumsor timetable’.
For many Ghanaians, the outages have disrupted economic activities, strained small businesses, and created discomfort in homes, particularly in urban centres where dependence on electricity is high.
At the centre of the controversy are claims by government communicators that a key installation belonging to the Ghana Grid Company at Akosombo may have been damaged by fire, contributing to the instability in power supply.
However, the intermittent power disruptions were in place before the Thursday incident at Akosombo.
Some officials have suggested possible sabotage, with insinuations that elements linked to the opposition could be responsible—an allegation that has been strongly rejected by critics and opposition figures.
Opponents of the government have described the claims as unfounded and politically motivated, arguing that it is illogical to attribute national infrastructure damage to rival party members without evidence.
They contend that such accusations distract from what they describe as deeper systemic issues within the energy sector, including poor planning, inadequate maintenance, and financial constraints affecting power generation and distribution.
Concerns have also been raised about security at critical national installations. Analysts question how such a vital facility could be compromised if indeed the reported incident occurred, pointing to the presence of surveillance systems and security personnel at strategic energy infrastructure sites.
The situation, they argue, raises broader questions about oversight and protection of key national assets.
Beyond the political back-and-forth, many citizens insist that the ongoing outages predate the reported Akosombo incident. Residents in several parts of the country recount experiencing intermittent power cuts long before any claims of damage to infrastructure surfaced. This has fueled skepticism about attempts to link the current crisis solely to a single event.
The struggle with unreliable power supply is not new. The country experienced a severe dumsor period between 2012 and 2016, which had far-reaching economic consequences and became a major political issue.
Although subsequent administrations implemented measures to stabilise the power sector—including adding generation capacity and restructuring parts of the energy value chain—periodic outages have continued to surface, often linked to technical faults, fuel supply challenges, or financial difficulties within the sector.
Energy experts note that Ghana possesses multiple power generation sources, including hydro, thermal, and renewable energy facilities, suggesting that the system should, in principle, withstand localized disruptions such as issues at Akosombo.
However, they caution that inefficiencies in distribution, debt within the energy sector, and operational constraints can still lead to widespread outages if not properly managed.
With public frustration mounting, the return of dumsor is fast becoming not just a technical issue, but a test of governance, accountability, and the resilience of the energy sector.
