Volta Regional Minister James Gunu has voiced his frustration over the persistent power outages and low voltage affecting communities and businesses across the region.
In a recent statement, he criticized the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for what he called a “complete disappointment” in its service, urging for immediate and transparent communication and greater accountability.
“Whatever the challenges are, let us know. There must be communication – regular communication – with the people,” Minister Gunu insisted. He emphasized the need for advance warnings about power cuts so residents and businesses can prepare, noting that many people had suffered damages to appliances like fridges due to unannounced outages.
His remarks reflected growing public dissatisfaction, with residents and business owners continuing to endure losses because of unreliable and unpredictable power supply.
“You are disappointing the people of this region. What crime have we committed?” Gunu asked, urging ECG and other underperforming institutions to work on restoring trust and improving their performance.
In response, ECG’s Volta Regional Manager, Ms. Christina Jatoe-Kaleo, acknowledged the challenges and explained that much of the issue stemmed from limitations within the electricity transmission network managed by GRIDCo, ECG’s upstream supplier.
“If what they give us is already low, by the time it reaches you, it’s insufficient,” she explained. Ms. Jatoe-Kaleo assured the public that efforts were underway to address the crisis, and while ECG cannot control external factors, they are in constant discussions with GRIDCo to find solutions.
She distinguished between planned outages, which ECG is legally required to announce, and unplanned interruptions caused by technical faults, particularly during the night. She assured the Minister that ECG’s technical team operates around the clock to detect and resolve faults in the system.
“We always inform the media and local assemblies about planned outages,” she said, adding that engineers are continuously working in the field to address issues as they arise. She also highlighted internal initiatives to improve technical capacity and stressed the importance of collaboration between ECG, GRIDCo, and government stakeholders to tackle the challenges.
Despite these assurances, Minister Gunu expressed dissatisfaction with the ongoing situation, warning that the region’s patience was running thin.
He criticized the lack of progress, saying, “We’ve written to you, but I know the usual excuse — that the letter wasn’t received. That’s why I’ve come in person. Today, I am the letter.”
The ECG has also faced recent controversies, with reports revealing that over a thousand containers of imported equipment and supplies have gone missing at the Tema Port, further compounding public frustrations.
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