Features
Those craving for ‘Dumsor’ are wishful thinkers

Ghana as a country between 2014 and 2016 went through a turbulent period because of an erratic power supply that affected every facet of life.
So terrible was the situation that the country gained such notoriety in the international community that the Twi word ‘Dumsor’ found its way into Wikipedia with some countries poking fun at Ghana.
Investors shied away from the country and businesses collapsed with some expatriate companies relocating to other African countries because of the high cost of doing business in Ghana as there was no power to use.
The government at that time though used various means in trying to save the situation and made some gains, it did not succeed entirely.
‘Dumsor,’ which means ‘put off, put on,’ became a major political football for Ghana’s two leading political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), as to who did what, when and how to solve the power crisis.
Today, the government, through the Ministry of Energy, has rolled out measures offering Ghanaians the best of power supply that has not been witnessed for some years.
Surprisingly, some political players are craving for the return of Ghana to the dreaded ‘Dumsor’ all in the name of scoring political points, although the Ministry of Energy has offered lots of hope to Ghanaians to the effect that the days of erratic power supply are over.
The current handlers of the energy sector are on top of their game to ensure that Ghana enjoys stable power supply at all times.
Power generation has been worked on heavily with numerous Power Purchasing Agreements (PPAs), excess capacity and associated payments, government guarantees and take or pay.
There is a new policy direction on PPAs, prudent addition of generation capacity and an increasing share of renewable energy. The way forward for contracting PPAs has been cleared for the best, as there is now take-and-pay arrangements, no longer government guarantees and tax exemptions for PPAs.
What is fascinating about the current move to keep the lights on is the cap on energy tariff which will be denominated in Ghana Pesewas, as well as a provision of Bank Liquidity support for PPAs.
What is amazing is the fact that Ghana’s current installed power capacity has improved with additions such that on March 18, 2022, the peak system was 3, 469 Megawatts and available capacity for that same day was 3, 861 Megawatts.
Upgrading of power lines to reduce losses and increase transmission capacity has been enhanced with the Kumasi-Kintampo section completed and energised to improve the voltages in the Ashanti and Northern regions and that completes the entire 330KV Kumasi-Bolgatanga Transmission line which supports power to Burkina Faso through the existing 225KV interconnection line.
Presently, there is more Bulk Supply Points (BSPs) leading to improved power supply. The construction of the 580 MVA Pokuase BSP, (which is the biggest substation,) and its commissioning has brought remarkable improvement in the reliability of power supply to Pokuase and its environs.
In addition to that, there is another 435MVA BSP at Kasoa, which is the second largest with a productive capacity of 435MVA and has helped in significant improvement in the reliability of power supply to Kasoa and nearby communities.
With power distribution, loss reduction strategies have been adopted notable among them is the Meter Management System (MMS) under which there is harmonisation of several metering systems, remote and early detection of faults and managing all metering systems on common platform and thereby reducing workload and stress of Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) workers.
By Moses Yaw Krubi
There is also the Geographic Information System (GIS) which helps the ECG to attain an accurate asset inventory with electric poles, transformers, cable lines, substations and other electric utility assets.
With the GIS, ECG is able to analyse its network usage, identify problems and risks, like power outages, have oversight about energy consumption, find potential threats to the distribution network and, manage utility asset repairs.
To further reduce power losses, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) under which all ECG business processes to facilitate seamless workflow for efficient operations has been rolled out, in addition to ECG Boundary Metering and Distribution Transformer Metering to enhance energy accounting and distribution system loss measurement. Nine operational regions: Accra East, West, Tema, Central, Western, Eastern, Volta, sub-transmissions and Ashanti SBU have been completed under ERP.
Voltage Current and Time (VIT) Smart Technology for optimising, designing and installation of VIT feeder automation scheme on 33KV and 11 KV distribution feeders to reduce outage time and customer experience is also in place to ensure proper power distribution.
As part of loss reduction strategies, the ECG Revenue Task Force was re-launched in September 2021 to identify power theft and recover debt across consumers.
To ensure payment to all players in the value chain to stay financially viable, there is the implementation of the cash waterfall mechanism and natural clearinghouse game plan running.
There is power commitment on the part of those handling the country’s power sector and that has manifested through the improved grid stability that Ghana is experiencing.
Grid stability was made possible through the relocation of 250MW Ameri Plant from Takoradi to Kumasi and completion of Gas Pipeline construction to Anwomaso in Kumasi, relocation of 80MW Volta River Authority (VRA) Siemens Thermal Power plant to Kumasi, proposal for combined cycle plant from AKSA (250MV) received and reviewed in addition to KARPOWER (235MV) proposal for Kumasi.
Tariffs rationalisation is being pursued seriously as the Energy ministry is collaborating with the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to rationalise electricity tariffs to make the methodology transparent and the tariff structure non-punitive.
Lots of renewable projects have been completed and for solar power generation alone, Meinergy Solar-20MW was completed in 2017, VRA Solar Lawra/Kaleo-19MW was completed in 2021 and Bui Solar-51MW and others were also completed in 2021.
For off-grid solar generation, there have been generation of some 24.3MW between 2017 and 2021 and 26 micro-grids of 58MW for hospitals in 2017, while the Jubilee House Phase 1 of 550KW was completed.
Ongoing renewable projects include the scaling-up Renewable Energy Programme (SREP) under which some 80MW would be generated. Thirty eight mini grids, 35, 500 Solar Home Systems (SHS) for off grid communities and 12,000 Net Metering PV for SMEs/Public Buildings/SHS projects are progressing with speed.
Bui Solar to generate 150 MW; complete Jubilee House Solar Phase II to a total of 912 KW and PPA negotiations between ECG and Lekela to generate 225MW and EleQtra to generate 50MW wind projects are all towards ensuring stable power supply.
With all that the handlers of the country’s energy sector and ,for that matter, the government are doing, there is no way that erratic power supply will come back to disorganise Ghana, and those who are craving for ‘Dumsor’ are virtually doing nothing apart from wishful thinking and they will be disappointed big time.
By Moses Yaw Krubi
Features
It is great to be young
If I had the power, I believe I may be tempted to remain a child forever. We used to hear statements it is great to be young when growing up.
I did not really comprehend one anybody would wish to be like me, a small boy and not wish to be an adult like my Dad. Those were the days that the family did not sit around a dining table and your Dad’s meal was set up on a small table at a particular spot in the hall.
When I observed the amount of meat that were given to my Dad and what was given to me, l definitely wanted to grow up quickly to also become an adult. Therefore to hear some adults occasionally declare that it is great to be young, was something I could not understand.
My reasoning was that, adults were enjoying a lot of benefits and so for any adult to even consider the possibility
When I grew up however, I have come to appreciate that saying that indeed, it is great to be young. Growing up as a child, all l looked up to was the next day to come as I go to bed. When I woke up, l had no worries about what I would eat before going to school.
Where the next meal was going to come from was not my concern. All l had to do was to make sure that I go to school, study hard and pass my exams and ensure that I am within the first three, in my class. There was no worrying about school fees, changing of school uniforms or clothes in general, something I cannot run from now as an adult.
I now have to provide for some people now and I can now fully understand my Dad’s comment that it is great to be young.
Christmas time was a very interesting and exciting time as a child because new clothes were provided for me and my siblings. I recall one Christmas period when I was provided with a suit. It was a memorable occasion in my life as it was the first time I wore a suit.
I felt very proud wearing the suit and with my new shoes to match, I felt great walking with my friends as we moved from place to place. When a new academic term begins I always looked forward to having a new school uniform. How much it was going to cost or how it was going to be provided was not my concern at all. It was taken for granted that I will get a new uniform at all cost.
I always had a good night’s sleep with the exception of those days that I was suffering from malaria and I had quite a number of such malaria attacks.
Recently my last born jokingly said “Daddy, do not think that I am not going to take money from you when I grow up oh. Even when I get married and have children, do not think you will be free. I will still collect money from you because you are my father”.
I burst into laughter and said “It is great to be young”. At the moment, her needs are provided by me and until she completes school and starts working, I will continue to provide for her needs. There have been moments that I wish I were a child once again.
I recall an incident involving my little girlie as I affectionately call my last born, when she pushed a piece of chalk into her nostril and we had to take her to the hospital, and wondering how it was going to come out. While her mother and I were worried at the hospital, she did not seem bothered and in that moment I wished I was a child. When the nurses finally got it out, I was so relieved and she was just smiling, obviously not worried as I was. Indeed, it is great to be young.
NB: ‘CHANGE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’
Features
The battle over alcohol


My bosom friend Joseph Kwame Korkoti has become overly concerned about the current war going on between two groups of pastors as to whether it is right or wrong for Christians to imbibe alcohol.
As a matter of fact, Korkorti’s expert opinion on the matter should have been sought.
On recent radio programme, two opposing groups of clergymen argued vehemently either in support or against alcohol. Korkorti was bewildered. He did not see their point. He did not even see their quarrel. What were they really driving at?
An article in the Mirror by my good friend and Apostle Kwamena Arhinful on the subject offered a brilliant analysis but tragically enough, he concluded poorly. But I understand him. It was the only way he could conclude without saying the Bible contradicts itself on the issue. As an apostle of Christ, he is not supposed to give conclusions that would inflame doctrinal sentiments.
My former bodyguard Napoleon Kwadzo alias Bonarparte summed up his conviction on the matter and refers to the Bible to make his point clear. “The Bible is against drinking not drunkenness. Furthermore, God chooses those he specifically wants to steer clear of alcohol like John the Baptist, Samson and the like. The others are free to quaff!”
I didn’t know the man who once protected my life was so biblical. When he drinks he quotes the Bible to support the dose and his conscience is clear. When he smokes, he quotes history and cites that Christopher Columbus could not have made it round the world without smoking tobacco.
Well alcohol is one controversial issue that has defied all forms of debate aimed at placing it in its proper place. Those who do not drink argue against it, quoting scripture over and over again. Those who drink also quote the Bible to support the number of ‘quarters’ they down. It is an interesting controversy.
I once spoke to a born-again Hungarian clergyman and asked him whether in his home country beer-drinking among Christians is regarded as a sin. He said Christians can drink some beer for refreshment but not as a habit or to satisfy an addictive urge; in effect you could drink so long as it was not habitual.
Well, other clergymen who are firmer friends with the Holy Spirit won’t agree to the imbibition of alcohol in any form. Korkorti was once arguing with a pastor and reminded him that the banku and okro soup he loves so much contains more alcohol than he could ever find in a glass of wine. The pastor told him to stop blaspheming.
When Korkorti started explaining the biochemical intricacies of the fermentation processes with respect to his reference to banku, the pastor stopped him at once because he thought Korkorti Asamoah was possessed by the evil one. He commanded him to come for deliverance.
Well some Christians permit alcohol during their wedding ceremonies, outdoorings and parties.
In fact, some pastors are properly charged even before they mount the pulpit. They are the believers in the age-old tradition that alcohol loosens the tongue.
And so long as the tongue is stiff, it must be forcibly loosened with supplementary doses. The word is then preached with vim till the pastor runs out of gas.
Alcohol is part and parcel of the lives of most people. They say it is their only source of happiness. One guy I have always known explains freely why alcohol is a faithful comrade.
“I don’t trust anybody in this world any longer .As for women I’ve finished with them, he says. “I have even been betrayed by my friends. They are treacherous. But I am assured that alcohol can never betray me. When I take my quarter my appetite is guaranteed, my happiness is complete.”
Others drink to enable them to cause trouble. If you want your in-law to stop interferring in your marriage, you only have to take quarter and the problem is solved. But in cases where the in-laws also take bitters, it can become a civil war. And hoes and cutlasses would feature prominently.
People drink alcohol for many other reason. Some say it is good for their waist and excites their libido in such a way that they are able to satisfy their sweet-hearts in ways unimaginable.
Others say it gives them free bowels, thereby removing phlegms and generally boosting their health. For others, they claim it helps them to think faster, and others say it gives them sound sleep complete with snoring and nightly contentment.
I remember sometime in 1989 when alcohol retailers were banned from selling bitters because some of them were not concocting the stuff properly and were thereby making it a health hazard. Well, some die-hards got angry and demonstrated in their homes and akpeteshie bars in protest. Before the demonstrations ended, most of them were in coma. They were dead drunk.
Today if alcohol is banned in Sikaman, there would be a social upheaval. It would be a mass insurrection against the government of the day. Thousands of believers with red and brown eyes blowing ‘fuse’ and wielding matchets and shovels will charge headlong towards the seat of government to demand that the ban be countermanded.
You are likely to see among them my uncle Kofi Jogolo, Kwapey, Adams, Blue Blue of Kintampo, Reverend Kofi Kokotako, Wisdom and Korkorti as the flagbearer.
But the problem is, is alcohol good for the body? The answer is no! A little bit of alcohol is said to be good for the heart. Anything beyond that is harmful to body tissues, brain cells, the nervous system, the stomach lining, the liver and even your manhood. If you drink too much, you can’t function.
Spiritually, it is not good for those who seek personal development and want to aspire towards a better relationship with God. The Holy Spirit indeed cannot work in our environment charged with the scent of “molasses” and the “fuse” of kpekpe.
But the fact we must also accept is that not all aspire to commune with the Holy Spirit. And if they don’t, what should they do? One man asked a catechist, “If I stop drinking akpeteshie, what would I drink. Palm oil?”