During the December 2016 General Elections, the then NDC Mahama-led administration was voted out of power for a plethora of reasons, chief among them was the consistent erratic power disruption, popularly known as Dumsor, that Ghanaians endured under the regime.
Despite heavy investments by the government in the energy sector to expand access to electricity by 80% in 2016, the persistent power disruption had overshadowed the government’s effort. The constant power disruption resulted in job losses and a decline in the welfare of Ghanaians.
The infamous Dumsor situation in 2015 through 2016 affected Ghanaians on a large scale, on personal levels to businesses that suffered financial loss or risked falling to the ground due to the erratic cut in power supplies.
Accordingly, the people of Ghana showed their grievances and dissatisfaction with the government’s inability to solve the issues of the energy sector by embarking on a national demonstration.
The opposition (NPP) then, also used the problem of the energy sector to discredit the competency of the government, a strategy that worked so well in its favor. It therefore came as no surprise when the government was voted out during the December 7th Presidential election in 2016.
“The issue is not about winning the elections. The main purpose of NDC coming to power is not just to win elections but to contribute our bit to uplift the country. If the right steps are taken and the NDC would have to lose elections so be it. If all that politicians do is short-term things to win elections and increase our suffering, then let’s try something else”.
Johnson Asiedu Nketia
The NDC’s defeat in the 2016 Presidential election therefore came to the party as something that was expected given the state of the economy as a result of Dumsor. The government though, as promised had resolved the power sector crisis before it was ousted in 2017.
The present resurfacing of the power sector crisis has therefore raised concerns regarding the regular and proper maintenance of the power generating plants over the years as the government before this had spent a lot of resources on repairs after these plants were neglected for years.
The Dumsor challenges, the country is once again entangled in, have caused a lot of damage to the country’s economy, as the consistent power outage reduces productivity. It also worsens the already deteriorating health sector of the country as many lives are at stake due to the power outages.
NPP And Dumsor
The incumbent NPP-led government’s approach to tackling the problem however is hugely different from what Ghanaians are used to.
To begin with, the government is on a mission to deny the resurfacing and therefore the presence of Dumsor, as it argues that the current power outages experienced daily by Ghanaians do not amount to Dumsor but are scheduled power disruptions to repair faults that power generators have developed.
Accordingly, the government by its conviction that Dumsor has not resurfaced, has refused to present Ghanaians with a timetable as was done by the previous government to enable individuals to schedule their activities well to maximize productivity.
“Ask those who want it to bring it if there is. I haven’t seen any timetable. The ECG says that there’s no timetable coming, why do you want to bring a timetable, and for what purpose? Why would somebody wake up and wish evil and wish bad for the country? When it is not planned, you can’t tell the person”.
Matthew Opoku Prempeh
Perhaps the NPP is reluctant to admit that Dumsor is present with the general public again because it fears the possible implications this may have on the party’s electoral fortunes provided this is an election year.
Also, given the criticism the NPP lashed out on the previous government regarding Dumsor, the government may be trying to prevent the opposition NDC from capitalizing on the issues to discredit the government as it (the NPP) had done in 2015/2016 before its victory in the 2016 election.
However, regardless of the government’s refusal to admit to the problem, the opposition NDC will nevertheless capitalize on what is considered a national crisis, given the present nature of the country’s economy, to discredit the government.
Conclusively, the refusal of the incumbent government to admit to the challenges of the power sector and its reluctance to provide a load-shedding timetable only makes the government unpopular with the populace, which does not bode well for its electoral fortunes come December 7th, 2024.
