President John Dramani Mahama has announced that Ghana’s persistent electricity supply challenges have been resolved, assuring citizens that power is now accessible across the country. Speaking at an engagement with members of the Ghanaian community in Moscow, President Mahama described the improvements in the energy sector as one of the most significant developments under his administration.
“On the energy front, I can report that there is no dumsor in Ghana. Everyone has electricity, and this has been one of the areas where we have recorded a remarkable turnaround in management,” he told the gathering. The President also highlighted the financial difficulties his government inherited, disclosing that Independent Power Producers (IPPs) were threatening to suspend electricity generation over unpaid debts estimated at $1.7 billion.
“When we assumed office, we owed all the IPPs, and they were threatening to cut power because the debt stood at about $1.7 billion,” he stated. He further revealed that the financial burden extended to unpaid bills for natural gas supplied from the Jubilee Field and by ENI, adding that the situation made a comprehensive financial restructuring of the energy sector necessary.
Mahama said his administration had since settled the outstanding debts owed to the IPPs and introduced a system to ensure timely payments going forward. His remarks come against the backdrop of Ghana’s history of intermittent power outages, popularly known as dumsor, and mounting debts in the energy sector, which have repeatedly threatened the operations of power producers. The government’s reported interventions are aimed at maintaining a stable electricity supply and preventing a recurrence of the financial difficulties that previously disrupted the sector.
