President John Dramani Mahama has moved to reassure Ghanaians that the intermittent power outages being experienced in parts of the country are not a return of “dumsor,” but part of a deliberate nationwide upgrade of the electricity distribution system.
His comments come amid rising public anxiety over recent disruptions, with some consumers fearing a relapse into the prolonged and erratic power crisis that previously affected homes and businesses across the country.
Speaking during a visit to the Northern Electricity Distribution Company as part of his “Resetting Ghana” tour, the President explained that the outages are necessary to facilitate ongoing infrastructure improvements aimed at delivering more stable and reliable electricity supply.
He disclosed that government has procured about 2,500 transformers under the first phase of a broad intervention designed to replace ageing and overloaded equipment across the country.
“I’ll appeal to our people. The outages you are facing are not ‘dumsor.’ It is to enable you to get better quality and stable power,” he said, adding that affected communities must be informed ahead of planned interruptions during transformer replacement works.
President Mahama noted that rapid population growth and expanding settlements have placed significant pressure on existing infrastructure, with many transformers installed decades ago now unable to meet current demand.
He expressed confidence that the ongoing upgrades, implemented in phases, will significantly strengthen power stability once completed.
The President also highlighted the growing role of local manufacturing in the energy sector, noting with approval that a number of the transformers being deployed are produced in Ghana.
“One of the things I’m happy about is that a lot of these transformers are made in Ghana. It helps multiply the benefits for our country,” he said.
He further urged the Electricity Company of Ghana and NEDCo to improve customer response times and fault resolution, stressing the need for better communication and faster service delivery.
“NEDCo, ECG, we must now improve our customer response time,” he stated.
On his part, the Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, said the transformer rollout is already underway in areas including Tamale, Accra, and Tema, with Kumasi and other regions set to follow.
He explained that the initiative targets overloaded transformers, reduces system failures, and improves overall grid stability, with the first phase expected to run for three months before expanding into longer term interventions.
The government says the broader programme forms part of a wider strategy to modernise Ghana’s electricity distribution network and prevent a recurrence of past nationwide power challenges.
