John Dramani Mahama has reassured Ghanaians that the recent power outages being experienced in parts of the country are due to ongoing system upgrades, not a resurgence of the prolonged electricity crisis widely referred to as “dumsor.”
His comments follow rising public concern over intermittent power supply, with some citizens worried about a possible return to the erratic outages that previously disrupted homes and businesses nationwide.
Speaking during a visit to the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) as part of his “Resetting Ghana” tour, President Mahama clarified that the interruptions are linked to a nationwide initiative aimed at strengthening electricity distribution infrastructure and ensuring long-term reliability.
He revealed that the government has secured approximately 2,500 transformers under the initial phase of a wider intervention aimed at replacing outdated and overburdened equipment nationwide.
“I want to appeal to the public: the outages you are experiencing are not ‘dumsor.’ They are necessary to deliver more stable and higher-quality power. Whenever transformers are being replaced, residents in affected areas should be duly informed so they understand that the power interruption is temporary,” he stated.
The President added that many of the country’s existing transformers are no longer adequate due to rapid population growth and expanding communities, noting that some equipment installed decades ago can no longer cope with current electricity demand.
He expressed confidence that the ongoing upgrades would greatly stabilise the power supply once completed, adding that the exercise would be carried out in phases to ensure steady improvements in service delivery.
Highlighting the importance of local industry, John Dramani Mahama welcomed the growing production of transformers within Ghana, describing it as a positive step toward strengthening domestic capacity in the energy sector.
The President also urged the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) to enhance their responsiveness to customer complaints, stressing the importance of quicker fault resolution and more effective communication with consumers.
“NEDCo, ECG, we must improve our customer response time. We need a system where when customers call, there is a swift response to resolve faults,” he emphasised.
For his part, the Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, noted that the rollout of the new transformers has already commenced in several parts of the country, including Tamale, Accra and Tema, with additional installations planned for Kumasi and other regions.
He explained that the initiative is intended to tackle overloaded transformers, reduce outages and enhance overall system stability, adding that the first phase is expected to last three months before progressing into medium- and long-term targets.
The minister also appealed to the public to remain patient during the upgrade works, assuring that customers would be informed ahead of any planned outages.
Together, these measures form part of a broader government strategy to modernise Ghana’s electricity distribution network, improve reliability and avert a recurrence of past power supply challenges.
