President John Dramani Mahama has created a new Ministry of Power and nominated MP for Pru East and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Energy, Dr. Kwabena Donkor to head it.
The establishment of the Ministry forms part of a restructuring of the power sector to ensure more stability and security of power.
A statement from the Office of the President and signed by the Chief of Staff, Prosper Bani, said the “President expects the new Ministry to bring about a sharper focus on the generation, supply and efficiency of power to match the growth the economy is experiencing.”
When approved by parliament, the new Minister will be expected to mobilise all human and material resources available to resolve the current challenges facing the power sector.
Ghana’s power producers and distributers namely Volta River Authority (VRA), Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) have been struggling to meet the generation targets needed for industries, businesses and homes.
The water level in the Akosombo dam which serves as Ghana’s biggest plant with an installed capacity of 1,020 megawatts has also been reducing steadily.
It currently produces only 775 megawatts.
This and other reasons compelled the ECG to release load-shedding timetable but there have been complaints from the public about inconsistencies in the power outage schedules.
Meanwhile, a new managerial appointment at the ECG has been met with fierce opposition from workers of the company’s branch in Tema.
They threatended mayhem demanding that the presidency must explain why the former MD – Ing William Hutton-Mensah was removed.
They also demanded that all heads of agencies on the energy distribution chain should be sacked.
Credit: citifmonline