Hamza Suhuyini Sayibu, a prominent communicator for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has fiercely rebutted recent calls from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for a load shedding timetable, branding the demand as both hypocritical and premature.
The sharp response comes barely four months after President John Dramani Mahama assumed office, with the NDC accusing the opposition of seeking quick fixes to a crisis they allegedly neglected while in power.
“The sudden audacity in less than four months in opposition to begin to demand that an age long problem that they left for us for eight good years, be fixed… They expect us to fix it in four months?”
Hamza Suhuyini Sayibu, NDC Communicator
According to Suhuyini, the demand from the NPP betrays a shocking level of audacity considering the current administration inherited a crumbling energy sector weighed down by massive debt and neglected infrastructure. “I am flabbergasted by the minority.”
Suhuyini reminded the public that load shedding and power outages were prevalent even before the 2024 general elections, highlighting that these issues were rooted in long-standing neglect by the previous administration.
He argued that the demand for a load shedding timetable is an attempt by the NPP to shift blame rather than acknowledge their own failure in the sector.
Suhuyini disclosed that after taking office, the NDC uncovered what he called “unforgivable rot” within the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), describing it as a consequence of years of financial mismanagement and administrative decay under the former government.
Public Accountability
He pointed to public discussions that had previously raised concerns about the state of ECG, insisting that these were not mere lamentations but necessary transparency in line with democratic values and campaign promises.
“There’s a vast difference between providing information to the Ghanaian people and seeking their support in our quest to resolve those challenges and lamentations”
Hamza Suhuyini Sayibu, NDC Communicator
He stressed that the NDC government remains committed to transparency, adding that informing Ghanaians about the challenges facing key sectors, particularly energy, is a constitutional obligation they intend to fulfill.
“The good people of this country, on a daily basis, need to know what is happening,” he stated, arguing that access to information is a fundamental democratic right.
Suhuyini added that Minister of Energy John Abdulai Jinapor is more worried than many Ghanaians, as his competence is on the line, and that the government is doing everything possible to resolve issues at their core. “Nobody is comfortable with issues of outages. We are not.”
Suhuyini further accused the NPP of failing to increase Ghana’s power generation capacity by even a “single megawatt” over their eight-year tenure, while at the same time leaving behind a staggering $1.7 billion debt owed to Independent Power Producers.
“You do not expect a new government in a matter of four or five months to be able to resolve all these problems that were bequeathed unto us.” he added, citing a broader energy sector debt exceeding GH¢80 billion.
Despite the scale of the problem, he assured that the government has kept the lights on, aside from “occasional unexpected outages.”
No Basis for Timetable
Suhuyini questioned the logic of issuing a load shedding timetable when the outages are unpredictable and fault-driven. “You simply cannot do that.”
He explained that faults occurring in areas like Tse Addo or Spintex cannot be forecast, and as such, a structured timetable would not be realistic under the current conditions.
He also pointed out that the NPP’s push for a load shedding timetable aligns with their earlier predictions that power challenges would return under the NDC only because they knew they had sabotaged the sector.
According to Suhuyini, the NPP failed to build on the meaningful energy investments made during Mahama’s earlier administration and are now using fear tactics to undermine public confidence. “For eight years when they were in power, they (only) took advantage of the investments.”
With the energy sector still under recovery, the NDC maintains that they will not be rushed by opposition theatrics but will focus on permanent solutions that prioritise long-term stability and transparency.
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