Parliament experienced a power outage on Thursday, February 29, 2024 during the day’s proceedings.
The legislators were debating President Akufo-Addo’s recent State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Outgoing Deputy Minister for Finance, Abena Osei-Asare was on the floor defending the President’s address when power went off.
It triggered chants of “Dumsor, dumsor!” from the Minority side of the house.
However, the power was restored after a few minutes.
The House was disconnected due to a GHc23 million debt owed to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The company’s taskforce executed the disconnection after the House failed to settle the arrears.
The office complex for Members of Parliament, Job 600 was also affected.
This development comes as many Ghanaians are already complaining of erratic power supply.
Early on Thursday morning, the Minority described the recent power outages as a sign of a looming crisis in the country’s power sector.
According to Minority Spokesperson on Mines and Energy, John Jinapor, the power outages are due to the government’s inability to purchase fuel for the country’s thermal plants.
Speaking in Parliament, he highlighted the persistent and consistent load-shedding by the country’s power generation companies.
“Indeed, the load-shedding is getting worse by the day. The very day His Excellency the President was delivering the State of the Nation address and boasting, up that very period, the utility companies were shedding the load,” he said on Thursday, February 29, 2024.
Mr. Jinapor revealed that on February 28, there was a massive power deficit of 530 megawatts, which resulted in power cuts to neighbouring countries such as Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Togo.
“You will attest that there was some massive darkness yesterday. Today at 12 pm, load-shedding will commence again.”
He explained that several of the country’s thermal power plants are not functioning properly, resulting in a significant reduction in power generation.
According to him, the government has been unable to purchase enough fuel to run the thermal plants due to financial constraints.
He urged the government to be more transparent and open about the situation and to provide people with the information they need to plan their lives.
Source: Kenneth Awotwe Darko
