The Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, has appealed to Ghanaians affected by recent power outages following heavy rains and flooding to exercise patience as engineers work to restore electricity supply across impacted areas.
He explained that electricity distribution authorities were compelled to switch off some transformers as a safety precaution after floodwaters rose to dangerous levels.
According to him, the decision was taken to protect lives, safeguard technical personnel, and prevent damage to critical power infrastructure.
“Yesterday, following the floods, the water had risen so much that we took a decision that we had to put some of the transformers off in the interest of public safety, in the interest of the safety of our own men, and also to protect the integrity of the transformers,” he said.
The Minister noted that the decision generated mixed reactions on social media, with some users questioning why power was cut during the flooding, while others argued that a shutdown was necessary for safety reasons.
He also referenced reports circulating online suggesting that a person may have died as a result of electrocution during the floods, though he said the information had not been independently verified.
“I was monitoring social media. There were two schools of thought. One group said, ‘ECG, you are so insensitive, in the midst of the floods when we are struggling, you switch our lives off.’
“Then there was a report I don’t know how true it is, but I saw it on social media, that somebody lost their life because of electrocution or something like that. Then another group came and said, why wouldn’t you put the lights off? You are so insensitive. You should have switched all the lights off.”
Jinapor said such competing expectations illustrate the difficult balancing act faced by utility managers during emergencies, stressing that decisions are often made under pressure and with public safety as the top priority.
He urged the public to remain calm as teams work to restore power supply, stressing that the shutdown of transformers was necessary under the circumstances.
“And so that is it for us. Sometimes we just have to manage it. And so let me use this opportunity to appeal to Ghanaians to bear with us. Yesterday, we needed to take all those transformers off because the situation demanded that,” he said.
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