SONA 2024: Akufo-Addo Says He’s Kept Lights On For 7 Years

The government says erratic power supply is now part of the country’s history following the exhibition of discipline and expertise as well as frantic measures to forestall the menace.

In the words of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, DUMSOR- as it is called- has not been inflicted on Ghanaians who pay their bills under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government in the past seven years.

“My government was determined that DUMSOR would not be inflicted upon Ghana and Ghanaians under an NPP government, and I am glad to be able to say, SO FAR, SO GOOD, we have managed to keep the lights on these last seven (7) years, even in the midst of a financial crisis,” he said while delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on February 27, 2024.

Some Ghanaians however do not find this statement entirely correct as parts of the country including Accra and Kumasi were without lights on Tuesday.

Some residents of areas including Abrepo, Santasi, Meduma and other places endured nine hours without light on Sunday night, a situation the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and GRIDCo are yet to justify.

Also in his address, President Akufo-Addo asserted his government has struck a mutually beneficial deal with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to reduce considerably the energy sector debt which was wrongfully pegged at US$1.6 billion instead of US$1.2 billion.

“Additionally, the Government Negotiating Team has reached commercial agreements on headline terms for the restructuring of power purchase agreements and arrears with AKSA, Amandi, Cenpower, CENIT and Early Power, and is finalising remaining definitive documentation of such terms, which will result in total expected savings in excess of nine-point-one-billion dollars (US$9.1 billion) over the lifespan of the IPP projects.

“In the meantime, ECG has been able to secure a fixed monthly energy purchase price with all the IPPs. This has led to a monthly payment of forty-three million dollars (US$43 million), instead of seventy-seven million dollars (US$77 million), that is monthly savings of thirty-four million dollars (US$34 million) or a forty-four percent (44%) reduction in monthly payments, a far better outcome than the ‘Take-Or Pay’ system we inherited.”