Recent power outages part of system upgrade, not ‘dumsor’ — Mahama

President, John Dramani Mahama, says the current power outages being experienced in the country are not “dumsor,” a term used locally to describe load shedding.

According to him, the outages are the result of ongoing transformer replacement and upgrade works by the two utility companies—the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo)—to enable them to provide more reliable and stable power to customers.

“I will appeal to our people that the outages you are facing are not ‘dumsor’; they are to enable you get better quality and more stable power,” President Mahama said on Sunday, April 19, while inspecting transformers at the NEDCo office in Tamale.

The President is in the northern part of the country as part of his “Resetting Ghana” tour.

According to him, over 2,000 transformers have been procured and are currently being installed in the first phase of an intervention aimed at stabilising power supply.

He explained that the initiative involves replacing old and faulty transformers to improve the quality and reliability of electricity delivery, adding that the programme will continue in phases over time.

Prior to his visit, NEDCo, in a public announcement, said it had “noted with concern” the difficulties faced by residents and had put in place “stringent mitigation measures” to stabilise supply.

Among the interventions are the tripling of standby teams, the expansion of customer hotlines to three lines, and the installation of new transformers into the grid to ease pressure on existing ones.

Management urged the public to use the hotlines to report faults, noting that customer complaints would help technical teams “resolve the concerns as soon as practicable.”

NEDCo also appealed to residents to stop interfering with the electricity network, warning that tampering undermines efforts to guarantee stable power.

“NEDCo remains your source of safe and reliable electricity supply,” the statement from Corporate Communications concluded.