Communications and Digitalisation Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful was in the middle of an address to the press when the unexpected happened.
The agenda was mostly to throw light on the new initiative that she says aims to deliver affordable 5G mobile broadband services across Ghana.
The Ministry would also subsequently respond to suspicions regarding how the company awarded the 5G network rollout contract was established just one week before receiving the contract.
At the event on Thursday, May 30, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful explained that the company was specifically created for this purpose because there was no existing neutral infrastructure company capable of handling the rollout at that time.
She said the new special purpose vehicle, Next-Gen InfraCo (NGIC) was a collaboration between government and Ascend Digital, K-NET, Radisys, Nokia, and Tech Mahindra, supported by All Mobile Network Operators in Ghana, starting with AT and Telecel.
But while she was explaining the rationale behind the new partnership, the electricity went off.
Lights, microphones, and speakers were all cut off, plunging the Information Ministry’s conference room into darkness.
The outage lasted for about five minutes.
After the power was restored, the Minister apologised for the hitch and continued with her address.
The unstable nature of the power supply over the past few months has been a matter of concern for many Ghanaians.
Some celebrities, including actress Yvonne Nelson, have planned a demonstration against the situation, which has left residents and businesses in a terrible predicament.”
On April 18, 2024, a group calling itself ‘Youth for Asanteman’ staged a demonstration in Kumasi to demand a load-shedding timetable amid recent unannounced power cuts.
Clad in red and black, the protesters prevailed on the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Energy Ministry to ensure stable power supply.
The protest was staged after President Akufo-Addo commissioned the Kumasi 1 Thermal Power Plant aimed at improving access to power.
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