Samuel Ayeh-Paye, former Member of Parliament for Ayensuano, has countered suggestions of ‘dumsor’ in Ghana, attributing recent power interruptions to technical glitches rather than a systemic problem of intermittent power cuts.
Despite widespread reports of power disruptions impacting households and businesses, Ayeh-Paye insists that Ghana’s present energy situation does not signify ‘dumsor’. Energy Minister Mathew Opoku Prempeh echoed similar sentiments in a recent media appearance, dismissing claims of ‘dumsor’ and urging critics to substantiate their allegations.
Ayeh-Paye, speaking on Citi TV, argued that Ghana boasts sufficient installed capacity to meet power demands. Nonetheless, he acknowledged technical obstacles impeding the optimal utilization of this capacity.
“We are encountering power outages, but according to power agencies, these are attributed to technical challenges rather than ‘dumsor’. ‘Dumsor’ occurs when there is insufficient power to meet peak demand,” he clarified.
He emphasized that Ghana’s peak production capacity stands at around 3,600 megawatts, slightly below actual demand, leading to sporadic shortfalls.
Ayeh-Paye stressed that these challenges arise from maintenance issues rather than a deficit in installed capacity.
Contrary to assertions of financial constraints impacting fuel procurement for power plants, Ayeh-Paye indicated that the Energy Ministry has assured that funding is not the primary concern. Instead, he cited maintenance and repair work on power plants and difficulties with electrical transformers as contributing factors to the outages.
