The Minister for Energy, John Jinapor, says he remains determined to address the challenges facing Ghana’s power sector, assuring that ongoing reforms will help stabilise electricity supply despite recent disruptions.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, April 27, he stressed his commitment to working with stakeholders in the sector to resolve the issues and ensure stability in power supply.
“As Minister for the sector, even though this is a very challenging period, I am determined to work with the team to ensure that we overcome these challenges,” he said.
The Minister acknowledged recent incidents affecting the sector, including infrastructure failures and operational setbacks within the electricity distribution system.
“Recently we’ve had some major challenges. These challenges have become a two-pronged challenge—the first is the unfortunate incident that just occurred over the weekend,” he said.
He explained that the second set of challenges relates to ageing and overstretched infrastructure within the power distribution network.
“The second is the technical challenges we face based on the obsolete equipment, overloaded transformers and transformers that have been failing,” he added.
The briefing comes amid heightened public concern following the fire at the Akosombo Power Control Centre, which disrupted parts of the national electricity grid and contributed to power outages in several regions.
It also follows recent leadership changes within the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in the Ashanti Region, as well as the Minister’s directive for the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCO) to step aside pending investigations into the incident.
Despite these challenges, Mr Jinapor said government reforms in the sector are ongoing, and the overall direction remains positive.
“But notwithstanding these challenges, the overall trajectory of the power sector remains strong, progressive; we continue with the reforms, and I must say that the sector remains resilient despite the recent challenges,” he said.
