NDC/Mahama Better Managers of Energy than NPP-Hon Dela Sowah

The Deputy Ranking member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, Hon Della Sowah, has berated President Akudo-Addo led New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration for running down the country energy sector.

According to her, the current power supply crisis could have been avoided if the government has taken the policies President John Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) left behind in 2016.

Hon Della Sowah who is Incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Kpando Constituency in the Volta Region, made this comment during an interview with EXPRESSNEWSSGHANA, in Accra on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

She said the Mills-Mahama NDC Administration took over a very sick energy sector in January 2009 from President John Kufour.

The Deputy Ranking explained that, before the coming into office in 2009, the in-store capacity was 1,810MW.

But by December 2012, it had been increased with 1,075MW which shot up to 2,885 MW which is about 37.3% increase within a period of four years.

She said before the John Mahama/NDC Administration left in January 2017, an additional 1,247MW was added to 4,132MW in-store capacity.

This, she said, means an additional value of in-store capacity of 2,322MW from 2009 to 2017 which represents 56.2% was produced.

In addition to this, the MP said, there were ongoing projects such as the Amandi and Early Power which were not added to the in-store capacity because they were not completed at the time we left office.

“It is important to note that the previous power crises we had was as a result of a generational problem such that, there was very high demand on a low generation of power.”

“It took the intervention of the visionary leadership of President Mahama through strategic investment in the energy sector to significantly boost electricity generation in Ghana,” Della Sowah added.

She emphasized the NDC ended the power crisis long before 2016 elections, arguing that, even Dr. Bawumiah is on record to have urged Ghanaians not to give credit to President Mahama for fixing dumsor.

“If the energy minister wants to compare the energy sector management under President Mahama and the Akuffo Addo administration, what he should be telling us is how many in-store capacities they have added to the national grid since they took over from 2017. “

“How is it conceivable for an administration, which took over an efficiently capacitated energy sector of over 4000 MW from John Mahama, to preside over the troubling return of ‘Dumsor’? The resurgence of such a crisis speaks volumes, pointing directly to mismanagement and lacklustre leadership,” she added.

Hon Della Sowah said, “there is a popular saying that, onto whom much is given, much is expected, this adage is certainly not the case when it comes to President Akuffo-Addo and he will surely go down in history as the President who achieved very little for this country despite receiving unprecedented revenue flows.

She noted that, if not of incompetence, who is there a refusal to admit the regression since John Mahama’s tenure ended? It is disconcerting how the NPP seems blind to the harsh disruptions in Ghanaians’ daily lives, indicative of a severe denial of the current power challenges.