There were three days of uninterrupted power supply in most parts of Accra, leaving many residents to wonder whether the ongoing power crisis is not deliberate.
The ‘improved’ power supply apparently followed the weekend dumsor vigil spearheaded by actress, Yvonne Nelson, and attended by other celebrities, some university teachers and other concerned Ghanaians.
Ms Nelson said the assurances given by the John Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to fix the perennial electricity crisis were all ‘lies’ and went on to start what she termed #DumsorMustStop campaign on social media which had gained enough public attention, culminating in the vigil last Saturday.
Some critics of the government are claiming the weekend’s uninterrupted power supply was deliberately done to spite the celebrity-inspired demonstration that sought to put pressure on President John Mahama and his government to act swiftly to fix the power crisis.
They conjectured that the erratic power supply, known in local parlance as dumsor, could be a deliberate programme of the government so that if by the end of the year the crisis has been resolved, the president can claim that he has fixed the problem so as to garner votes in 2016.
President Mahama had previously said Ghanaians have short memories and so in the event that the problem is resolved, they might have forgotten the hardships they had gone through.
Critics are saying it is unusual for Accra residents to experience uninterrupted power supply for three consecutive days as the power distributor, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), had not announced any new timetable for power rationing.
They insisted that the fact that the government is able to continuously provide uninterrupted power during festive occasions as well as during football tournaments showed that President Mahama and his government were capable of solving the problem in no time instead of waiting for the end of the year when most companies would have collapsed.
The country’s power crisis has worsened with the government struggling in vain to remedy the situation amidst several failed promises.
Currently, industries and major businesses are collapsing as a result of the dumsor, whilst many workers continue to lose their jobs.
Even the emergency power barges promised by the government to mitigate the effects of the crisis are still not ready and there appears to be no end in sight for the crisis.
Many Ghanaians, including celebrities, have expressed disgust at the government’s handling of the energy crisis but a number of NDC appointees have sought to disparage those who want the government to sit up over the dumsor.
By William Yaw Owusu
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