The Minority in Parliament has dismissed the government’s claim that current power outages are solely due to the recent fire at the Akosombo substation, calling instead for an immediate load-shedding timetable to aid public planning.

Speaking ahead of a scheduled address by Energy Minister John Jinapor, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Energy Committee, Collins Adomako Mensah, argued that the power grid was already in a fragile state before the April 23 fire.

While the blaze reportedly disabled six switches and removed 1,000 megawatts from the grid, Mr Adomako Mensah noted that households and businesses were experiencing "intermittent power outages" long before the incident.

"I’m not too sure it can entirely be attributed to what happened at Akosombo," he stated, pointing out that the government had previously blamed outages on transformer upgrades.

"What happened at Akosombo has just exacerbated the situation and made it even more precarious."

Call for Transparency and Planning

The Minority criticised the lack of clear communication from power distributors, noting that current notices often arrive after the lights have already gone off. Mr. Adomako Mensah urged the government to officially acknowledge the return of "Dumsor" to allow for structured management of the crisis.

"The dumsor timetable will give you an indication that today is Monday; please be aware that by Wednesday, your light will be off, so you can plan," he explained.

"Admit that there is dumsor… and in the meantime, give a timetable so people can plan."

Concerns Over ECG Leadership Shake-up

The Minority also raised alarms regarding recent leadership changes at the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in the Ashanti Region.

They warned that the timing of these changes, following public comments from regional political figures, risks being viewed as politically motivated rather than technical.

Mr Adomako Mensah cautioned against the politicisation of the energy sector, arguing that such moves undermine institutional integrity.

“To have the minister take that course then feeds into the propaganda that he's heeding instructions... which is very, very unfortunate,” he said, calling for appointments to be based strictly on competence.

The demand for a timetable adds significant pressure on the Energy Minister as he prepares to update the nation on the government's strategy to restore power stability across the Greater Accra, Ashanti, and Central regions.