John Dramani Mahama, the presidential candidate of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has charged that the government is hiding the extent of Ghana’s power crisis and preparing to transfer a USD 2 billion debt to a future NDC government in the event that the party wins the December 7 election.
Speaking to supporters in Krachi West District’s Ehiamankyene, Mr. Mahama criticized the government for not implementing a load-shedding schedule, saying it was a ploy to deceive the public about how serious the situation was.
He blamed unpaid government debts for Sunon Asogli’s departure from the industry and the recent power outages.
“We do not have a stable plant because Sunon Asogli has shut down its plant due to significant unpaid debt owed by the government.
“As a result, dumsor has returned, and this is because the government is not being truthful with Ghanaians.”
Mr. Mahama said that the current government is hesitant to accept responsibility, in contrast to his previous administration’s transparent handling of the power crisis.
“The current government refuses to [declare a load-shedding schedule] because they fear being blamed for bringing back dumsor,” he added.
“They are trying to shift this burden onto us,” he said, stressing that such a debt would cripple efforts to stabilize the sector.
“We want to increase the vote that we get from Volta and the Oti regions, and I am sure that if we are able to do that, it will also increase our vote in Greater Accra.
“We need to widen the gap in the Volta region,” the NDC Presidential candidate stated.