The Institute of Economic Research and Public Policy (IERPP), a policy think tank dedicated to social reform, sound economic management, and responsible governance has said that available facts do not support a claim by President John Dramani Mahama during his 2025 State of the Nation Address (SONA) where he said he resolved the erratic power supply (Dumsor) in 2016.
During the SONA on Thursday, February 27, President Mahama said "I, John Dramani Mahama, will fix the economic crisis confronting our country and reset it on a path of growth and prosperity." However, in a statement, IERPP said it "finds that the president's assertion in paragraph 6 of the SONA-where he claims to have resolved dumsor (erratic power supply) by 2016, stating that from January 2016 to January 7, 2017, there was no power rationing or load management-is inaccurate.
Evidence contradicting this claim can be found in an article published by Citi FM Online on April 19, 2016, in which the president himself stated: 'We are not able to get enough gas to feed the power plants.' He further explained: 'If you take the eastern generating area, which is Tema, we have almost 600MW of gas-based generation but are not getting gas through the West African Gas Pipeline to be able to run them.' "Additionally, in a GhanaWeb article published on July 15, 2016, the president is on record acknowledging that dumsor was not yet over while addressing party supporters and traders at Aboabo Market in Tamale, Northern Region.
Given these documented statements, the president's claim in his 2025 SONA does not align with historical records from 2016." Below is the full statement from the IERPP… On Thursday, February 27, 2025, President John Dramani Mahama delivered his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) before the 9th Parliament, as mandated by Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
