The creation of the Ministry of Power was controversial, to put it mildly. Many people, including your columnist, continue to question the wisdom of its creation.
One has to wonder what new job the new ministry will perform that was not in the mandate of the Ministry of Energy. However, the choice of Dr Kwabena Donkor to head the new ministry was an inspired one.
Dr Kwabena Donkor, known to close friends as Village Boy (or VB for short), is a man of the people with a very high intellect. His interest in, and knowledge of the energy sector, is first-rate and he has the skills to communicate intricate and arcane matters of energy and power politics. If you wanted a person to handle this unenviable assignment, he would be high up on the list of suitable candidates.
I was exceedingly glad when I heard that the minister was addressing a press conference last Monday on the energy crisis which is sapping the creative energies of our nation. I expected to learn more about ‘Dumsor’ and how this crisis might be resolved. Unfortunately, I have to score my friend very low on this occasion.
Let me confess that I was unable to hear his words but I have since read reports from many credible sources, and I have to say that I am none the wiser on ‘Dumsor’ or how it will end, let alone the almighty issue of WHEN.
Every crisis comes with its own language and this current predicament has produced words and phrases that the ordinary Kofi and Amma had not known existed or taken any note of at all.
Take for example “installed capacity” which I hear being wheeled about on radio every morning by everyone as if they understand it themselves. Think about it: is this the capacity which we ought to install or that which we already have installed? In other words, is installed capacity a friend or foe?
Another phrase is “non-hydro sources.” Yes, we know that “hydro” means water, so non-hydro sources must mean other ways of generating power apart from by water. Right? So, why are these non-hydro sources so important in explaining the difficulties we are going through? Do we have them or not, and if not, why?
The other word we have learnt in our recent lives is “megawatt.” I mean I have never seen a megawatt in my life and I am not sure I will recognise him, her or it if I were to encounter this plant or animal in a supermarket. But megawatt is now playing a key role in my life.
I understand, of course, that megawatt is something we used to have more of, which we now have less off, and will like to have more of again. More megawatts will cure the ills of ‘Dumsor’. So what is preventing us from getting more megawatts?
The point that government ministers and party spokespersons of the ruling NDC seem to be missing is that we as citizens and customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana are tired of hearing the same old explanations of the causes of the crisis. We are now looking for concrete solutions.
It would be nice to know why in the year 2015 we cannot seem to manage our energy sector, but that is now proving as hard to get as the electricity itself.
The last thing any government or party spokesperson wants to countenance is the suggestion that money might be the root cause of this crisis.
There was a moment of pure farce the other day when an NDC spokesperson on Peace FM tried too hard to deny that money had any role to play in the matter. He claimed that the Volta River Authority, which generates the power, has been provided with more money than it needs for its operation.
As a barely energy-literate person, I am assuming that the current energy arithmetic is this: “installed capacity” minus “non-hydro sources” equals to a shortfall. Now, if you have a shortfall in any product but you have more money than you even requested for, where is your problem?
Money cannot buy everything, but it can buy gas from countries apart from Nigeria and crude oil from around the world.
Citizens need to know the truth about ‘Dumsor’ and this is not a demand for long technical explanations. It is a simple request to be given the facts – not to hide them. Now, if it is all a question of installed capacity, non-hydro sources and megawatts, what is new?
One media report says that the “authorities have BLAMED the situation on low water level in the Akosombo dam and lack of gas to power the country’s thermal plants.”
The causes, identified for “blame,” do not constitute an act of God, and even if they were unforeseen catastrophes, more than two years would be enough time to remedy the faults.
So, when Dr Donkor gives the assurance that his ministry is determined to adopt every strategy necessary to bring an end to the load shedding”, what strategies would he be deploying that have not been tried already?
On the crucial question of timing, Dr Donkor has given “the end of the year” as the cut-off time for this crisis. This answer is too lackadaisical to be taken seriously although the minister has staked his reputation on it. It would be a more credible deadline if it had in- built timelines that could be verified. In that case, we would be able to monitor the progress of whatever timetable is presented. Incidentally, just a few hours before the minister spoke, the selfsame spokesperson gave the assurance on Peace FM that the problem will be solved within one month.
But let us listen to the minister, even if there can be no joy in the assurance that the crisis will end by the “end of the year”. If that rather overly relaxed “promise” proves true, 12 months of Dumsor would have imposed untold hardship on millions of people. There is informal mini industrial zone along a street at Agbleza in Teshie which is on its way to becoming a wasteland. The artisans and small scale businesses are closing one after the other. How can they wait until the end of the year, and even that on the mere say-so and reputation of the Minister of Power?
This is the same situation across the country where young self-starting entrepreneurs such as barbers, tailors, welders and the like are seeing their investments disappear while they stare unemployment in the face.
Now, even if lack of money is not the cause of the Dumsor, the cost of these businesses folding is too heavy accept. Which is the heavier cost – paying our way out of the crisis or allowing it to fester out of control?
Or, perhaps, it is that we have exhausted our credit worthiness and can no longer borrow even when it is matter of death and death?
Now, here is the Catch 22 situation: if it is a question of cash and creditworthiness, the surest way out of the trouble would be to reduce government spending. This might mean cutting down the number of ministries, in which case the minister of the newest ministry would hardly be the right advocate. We need to look elsewhere… where the buck stops.
Good day, Mr President.
