The Electricity Company of Ghana has dismissed fears of a return to “dumsor” despite frequent power outages reported in parts of Greater Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
According to the power distributor, the outages are largely caused by vehicles crashing into electricity poles, persistent cable theft, and interference from unlicensed electricians.
In recent weeks, residents and businesses across parts of Greater Kumasi have complained about unstable power supply, raising concerns about a possible return of the power crisis.
Speaking to Channel One News, however, Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer of ECG, Benjamin Obeng, has insisted the outages are not due to power generation challenges.
He explained that the region has an adequate power supply from existing generation sources, including the Ameri power plant, stressing that engineers are working to resolve faults caused by damaged cables and networks.
“Activities of third-party electricians are contributing to some of the power outages we’re seeing in the region. Sometimes, some of the customers engage the services of third-party electricians when power goes off. Some also engage electricians to install street lights without the knowledge of ECG,” he said.
Benjamin Obeng also cautioned the public against engaging third-party electricians, warning that unauthorised work on ECG installations often leads to network faults, low voltage and power supply interruptions.
“We want our customers to know that the cables, poles, transmitters and conductors belong to ECG and only ECG engineers are required to work on the network,” he warned.
Meanwhile, residents and businesses affected by the outages are calling on ECG to urgently resolve the situation.
During Channel One News visit to the tailoring workshop of Abubakar Mokanye at Asokwa, for instance, he and his workers were sitting idle because power had been off since morning.
Mr Mokanye says the outages have become frequent over the past two weeks, affecting productivity and causing him to lose customers. He appealed to ECG to put measures in place to stabilise the power supply and reduce the impact on businesses and households.
