‘Work to improve efficiency, reliability to drive down costs’ – Akufo-Addo charges public utility heads

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has charged the heads of the various public utility providers to improve the efficiency and reliability of their services to drive down costs.

The President made the call during his speech at the commissioning ceremony of the Kumasi 1 Thermal Power Plant at Anwomaso in the Ashanti Region on Wednesday, April 17.

“I urge the Ashanti regional minister to provide the necessary assistance to ensure the efficiency and safety of this very important power station.

“I charge the heads of our public utilities and our power utilities to work to improve their efficiency and reliability so as to drive down costs,” he stated.

The power utilities, especially the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), have recently faced heavy criticism for unreliable power supply in certain areas of the country, popularly termed ‘dumsor’ in Ghanaian parlance.

There have also been calls for the power distributor to publish a load management schedule to allow customers to plant effectively.

President Akufo-Addo speaking at the commissioning ceremony

The President commended stakeholders in the power sector, including the ECG for working to ensure K1TPP has been achieved.

“I congratulate the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), and the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC) for their respective roles played in bringing this project to fruition,” said President Akufo-Addo.

 

Meanwhile, the President revealed that the Volta River Authority (VRA) provided all the funding for the construction of the Kumasi 1 Thermal Power Plant.

The African and Middle East Resources Investment (AMERI) Group has officially handed over the 10-unit power plants—under a five-year “built, own, operate, and transfer” arrangement—to the government of Ghana after completing the duration.

“To top it all, VRA provided all the funds for the construction of this station, including land acquisition, permits and licences, preparation of environmental and social impact studies, civil works, electric mechanical works, and commissioning of the plant,” said President Akufo-Addo.

The President further emphasised that the VRA has demonstrated that “Ghanaian engineers from a publicly-owned institution can rise up to the task of finding engineering solutions to build our nation.”