In last year’s State of the Nation address, President Mahama blamed his predecessors for the crises in power delivery. He said they had not made the requisite investments and that it was their non-performance, which had led us to the crises. In other words the President declined responsibility. Today, when we are witnessing some positive development in power delivery the President makes a u-turn and claims he accepted full responsibility last year. That was, regretfully, a palpable untruth.
Let us remind ourselves of what the real facts are:
The NDC in 2012 promised to increase installed power generation capacity from 2,443 megawats to 5,000 megawats by 2016. The installed capacity was not to be predicated on emergency power plants. The current 800 megawats, which the President speaks of, is today delivered by emergency power plants, which are costing the consumers a fortune. They are not a permanent solution to our power generation challenge.
Additionally, the government has suppressed demand to mines and bulk power demanders like Valco, creating the impression that they have boosted supply to meet demand.
The President recounts the story of Shirazu Issaku, the vulcanizer at the Fufulso junction, whose life has been transformed dramatically by the extension of electricity to his town. It is important to state, though, that the funding for this SHEP 3 project otherwise known as WELDY LEMONDS project, from which Fufulso benefitted, was secured by the previous NPP government.
Surely, the President cannot mean that such an example can make up for the thousands whose lives and livelihoods have been destroyed drastically by DUMSOR. The barbers, the hairdressers, the ice-cream vendors, the frozen food sellers, the tailors, the seamstresses, the hotel proprietors and restaurant operators, whose operations rely on electricity, were all brought to their knees as a result of four years of DUMSOR, induced by the mismanagement and incompetence of the government. Who or what can comfort those who lost loved ones as a result of DUMSOR? According to the reputable Institute for Social Statistical and Economic Research, DUMSOR cost the country financial losses of US$680 million in 2014 alone, equivalent to 2% of GDP. Thus, the four years of DUMSOR have cumulatively led to financial losses of more than $3 billion, and, in the process, thousands of Ghanaians have lost their jobs. Big firms such as Coca Cola, Mantrac Ghana, Cadbury, Novotel, Golden Tulip City Hotel, and several others have been forced by the high cost of DUMSOR to lay off workers. Juapong Textiles has been forced to lay off 1,400 workers, not to mention the number of families that have been affected by these considerable job losses.
Apart from the emergency plants which are costing the taxpayer a fortune, the government has failed to deliver on its promise. As a result of these questionable deals, electricity tariffs have been increased to exorbitant levels. Consumers are now faced with vanishing power credits and illegal charges for electricity. The President wants us to give him credit for resolving DUMSOR, which was caused by economic and financial mismanagement of his government. So how can you expect credit for resolving a problem that you have caused which has inflicted such a high cost on the nation? What would be the case if the resolution turns out to be temporary? Would the President accept blame?
- See more at: http://citifmonline.com/2016/02/29/full-text-nana-addos-real-state-of-the-nation-address/#sthash.ODAvNoXg.dpuf
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