Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Energy Committee and Member of Parliament for Afigya Kwabre North, Collins Adomako-Mensah, has called on government to level with Ghanaians on the worsening power disruptions, insisting transparency and a clear load management timetable are now critical to cushioning households and businesses from mounting losses.
In an interview with NR News, the former Deputy Energy Minister argued that regardless of how government chooses to characterize the recurring outages, the lived experience of ordinary Ghanaians points to a problem that demands candid acknowledgement and practical intervention.
“For us, the lights are off,” he said, stressing that public communication should focus less on semantics and more on assuring citizens that concrete steps are being taken to stabilize supply.
According to him, admitting the existence of a crisis is the first step toward restoring public confidence, particularly at a time when small businesses and institutions are suffering avoidable losses.
He made a strong case for a structured timetable to guide consumers on expected outages, saying such a measure would help businesses and households plan around disruptions rather than being caught off guard.
Adomako-Mensah cited the impact on media houses, small enterprises, cold stores, barbershops and other power-dependent businesses as evidence of the economic burden of the outages.
He recounted how one media institution reportedly lost an entire day of broadcasting after suffering a prolonged outage while its backup generator also developed a fault, describing such incidents as emblematic of the hidden economic cost of the unstable supply.
“This is not just inconvenience. It is economic loss,” he stressed.
The Ranking Member argued that predictable scheduling of outages, even where painful, would be preferable to the uncertainty consumers are currently facing.
He suggested a timetable should provide advance notice indicating when and where disruptions are expected, and for how long the arrangement would last while system upgrades are undertaken.
According to him, such communication is particularly important for small and medium enterprises already operating under difficult economic conditions.
He also urged the Energy Minister, ahead of his expected briefing on the power situation, to focus on three priorities — admit the problem, assure the public, and communicate clearly.
For Adomako-Mensah, crisis management in the energy sector begins with honesty.
He said Ghanaians do not expect perfection from government but deserve to know the true state of the system and the steps being taken to address challenges.
He also questioned what he described as inconsistencies in official explanations surrounding the outages, noting that recent supply interruptions predated the Akosombo fire incident, which has since aggravated the situation.
According to him, attributing the current instability solely to the fire would be misleading.
He recalled that prior to the incident, government had already explained intermittent outages as linked to system upgrades and transformer works, suggesting deeper underlying issues must be acknowledged.
While welcoming reports that engineers are working to restore affected generation units, he maintained that technical interventions alone are not enough without strong public communication.
He further called attention to the social burden of the outages, saying ordinary households are bearing the brunt.
“You return from work exhausted and the lights are off. People are struggling,” he said.
The lawmaker noted that the question is not necessarily whether the situation should be labelled “dumsor,” but whether authorities are responding in a way that recognizes the hardship consumers are enduring.
His intervention adds to growing calls for improved communication and planning in the management of Ghana’s power supply challenges, as pressure mounts on the Energy Ministry to reassure the public and stabilize the grid.
Hon Adomako-Mensah said, the immediate remedy is for government to tell the truth, provide a timetable, and help citizens plan.
By: Christian Kpesese
