The Minister for Energy, Dr matthew opoku Prempeh, also known as NAPO, has come under intense pressure following a recent street protest in Accra against erratic power supply in the country.
Demonstrators who joined Ghanaian actress Yvonne Nelson on Saturday, June 8, called for an immediate end to the power crisis that has plagued the country for several months.
The outages, known as #Dumsor, have affected people and businesses across the country, including students.
Actress Yvonne Nelson, who led a similar protest in 2015, led the demonstration, calling on the government to fix the problem.
Despite feeling unwell, Nelson joined the protesters, who wore black and red shirts and held placards reading “Ghana deserves better, fix #Dumsor”, “#Dumsor is killing our dreams”, and “No more darkness, no more excuses”.
The protesters, who held a 7-hour vigil from the University of Ghana to the Tetteh Quarshie roundabout, demanded an end to the power crisis, which they say has become unbearable.
Yvonne Nelson said a viral video from a public hospital where the lights had gone out in the labor and admission wards, leaving mothers and newborns in the dark, had motivated her to mobilize people for the protest.
Henry Osei Akoto, one of the convenors of the protest said the vigil was meant to tell the president to “carry our light and give it to us”.
“We are demonstrating today to tell the Energy Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh to stop the arrogance and give us stable power to ensure that businesses are running well,” Akoto Osei told XYZ News.
He said Ghana needs only 750 megawatts of power, but the government has failed to provide it.
Students who joined the protest said the situation had become worse, with power outages affecting their studies and exams. Business owners, including cold store operators and metal smiths, also complained that the power crisis was affecting their businesses.
The convenors of the protest submitted a formal letter containing their demands to the president and expect a change soon. Otherwise, they vowed to take further action to put pressure on the government to fix the power crisis.
Source: Myxyzonline.com
