Protesters from all walks of life, most of whom were clad in black, gathered at Legon to commence the march that was expected to impress upon the government to urgently address the prevailing power situation popularly called ‘dumsor’.

The protestors were rallied by Ghanaian actress, Yvonne Nelson who used social media to pull off what has been described as the country’s largest and most successful peaceful protest in recent history.

Artistes Efya, DKB, Sydney, Van Vicker, David Oscar, Wanlov da Kubolor and a host of others joined in the march.

The protest, dubbed the “DumsurMustStopVigil” had been popularised by series of opposition including those from some pro-government elements that thought it was aimed at making the government unpopular.

Hundreds of armed police personnel and some armoured cars were deployed to ensure order.

The very determined protested marched from the area around the University of Ghana main gate to Tetteh Quarshie Roundabout where a mini rally was held.

Although the power situation did not radically change after the protest, Ghana currently enjoys a relatively stable supply of electricity with occasional instances of power cuts often attributed to ‘system failure’ and ‘localized faults.’

Two years on, the country has a new government under the leadership of Nana Akufo-Addo who has promised to make ‘dumsor’ a thing of the past.

The Ministry of Power, which was created at the height of the power crisis to solve the problem has been merged with the Ministry of Energy and is headed by Boakye Agyarko who has resolved to review and cancel some power agreements signed under the former government.

His position is that the previous government erred in several ways signing various power contracts in its frantic attempts to solve the power challenge.

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post 2 years ago; Ghanaians marched against ‘dumsor’ [Photos] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the recent unplanned power cuts experienced in various parts of Accra and other parts of the country, was as a result of technical works on some of the country’s power plants.

[contextly_sidebar id=”IRYTfQflXmS0U6O4reEYUxNu549u5h3L”]He said although the remedial works was to end on Monday, it had to be extended because some works were still outstanding.

A press release signed by the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), and the Volta River Authority (VRA) earlier in January, announced the shutdown of the Ghana Gas Company for some remedial works to increase the country’s generational capacity.

The release assured Ghanaians that, the development would not result in unplanned power cuts popularly known as ‘dumsor’.

But reports gathered by Citi News indicates that several areas, especially in Accra, have in the last few weeks suffered power cuts.

The Minister for Energy, Boakye Agyarko in an interview on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News, said “we have gone through from 1st February till now with very minimal disruption. We should have come to the end of the program on Feb 23rd, however Tullow, the field operator, requested a couple of days extension to do the peak testing and so it moved from 21st to 24th February. Today [Friday], is the day when we come to the end of the disruptions and this evening we start the flow of gas, which brings us to our normal state.”

“We’ve gone through two days of disruptions but I can tell Ghanaians that that is the end of the disruptions,” he added.

Meanwhile, the end of the remedial works indicates that, the process to connect the TEN fields to the Atuabo plant  has been completed with a significant increase in the amount of natural gas produced to run the power generating facilities at Aboadze, to improve the overall reliability of power supply to the general public.

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Power situation will be normal from today – Boakye Agyarko appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.