In recent weeks, Ghana has found itself grappling with a familiar adversary – power outages, locally known as “dumsor.”
One of the underlying issues contributing to the power woes is the government’s outstanding debt of $19 million to the West African Pipeline Company (WAPCo).
While a Deputy Minister of Energy, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, confirmed a partial settlement of $13 million, a remaining arrear of $6 million persists, he however, attributed the recent power outage in Accra to a fuel shortage, further exacerbating the challenges.
The resurgence of erratic power cuts has triggered frustration and discontent among Ghanaians, prompting former President John Dramani Mahama to assert that the nation is regressing to the days of severe power crises.
Addressing a stakeholder meeting during his ‘Building Ghana Tour’ at Sogakope in the Volta Region, Mr Mahama, who is also the Flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2024 elections, expressed concerns over the lack of prior communication and explanation for the widespread outages.
The former President attributed the power challenges to the government’s mismanagement, claiming that the NDC had successfully resolved similar issues during its tenure.
“Today ‘dumsor’, they’re treating it like a football because he wants to kick it over the 7th January 2025 line and hand the trouble over to somebody else, and yet we resolved it before they came into office”.
John Dramani Mahama
Mahama Condemns Government New VAT Policy On Energy Consumption
Furthermore, former President John Dramani Mahama condemned the government’s decision to transfer Value Added Tax (VAT) generated from consumers exceeding their lifeline power consumption, citing it as an additional burden on consumers already grappling with existing taxes on power.
According to Mr Mahama, the escalating utility costs, coupled with the economic challenges posed by the power crisis, have led to increased hardships for Ghanaians.
Mr Mahama called for a reduction in government expenditure as a means to alleviate the tax burden on citizens, emphasising that it is making Ghana a difficult place to do business.
“Today, they’ve put a Value value-added tax on electricity bills. And COVID levy, NHIL levy, and GETFUND Levy are all on electricity bills, and so that’s going to send the cost of your electricity bill up. Already, there was a 29 per cent increase, there was a 19 per cent increase, then they tried to fool us with a 4% increase, and now it’s going up again astronomically.
“All business people are complaining. The owner of this hotel who has given us this resort to do this thing, you should ask him how much he’s paying in utility bills. And yet, because of the mismanagement by the President and his cousin and his Vice President, it has plunged all of us into a difficult situation where they have pledged to the IMF [International Monetary Fund] to raise as much revenue as they can”.
John Dramani Mahama
Moreover, the former President underscored the need for fiscal prudence, urging the government to cut down on expenditure, particularly in the Office of the President.
He criticised the doubling of the year-on-year budget for the Office of the President, which he claimed went up by 82 billion cedis last year.
Mr Mahama pledged that if elected, the National Democratic Congress would focus on completing ongoing and abandoned projects rather than initiating new ones, aligning with a commitment to fiscal responsibility.
It is worth noting that as Ghana navigates the challenges of its power crisis, Mr Mahama’s critiques have become central topics in the political discourse, which will ultimately contribute to shaping public opinion and setting the stage for discussions on effective governance, economic management, and infrastructure development in the 2024 elections.
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