Energy Ministry opens up on nationwide blackout on July 13

The Ministry of Energy and Green Transition has refuted claims that Ghana will experience a nationwide power outage on Sunday, July 13, calling the reports misleading and inaccurate.

The clarification follows earlier comments from the Minister of Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, who had announced that there could be temporary interruptions in electricity supply on that day due to a planned shutdown by ENI for maintenance and to boost gas production. However, some media reports interpreted the announcement as a warning of an impending nationwide blackout.

Speaking on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News on Wednesday, July 9, the Ministry’s Spokesperson and Head of Communication, Richmond Rockson, set the record straight. He emphasized that while some power supply disruptions may occur due to the scheduled maintenance, there is no plan for a nationwide blackout or a return to the era of widespread load shedding, commonly referred to as “dumsor.”

“I have seen some misreporting from some media houses that there will be a nationwide blackout. That is not what the Minister said. That is inaccurate; that is falsehood,” Rockson said.

He further explained that the Ministry is taking steps to minimize any potential disruptions to ensure stable power supply during the maintenance period.

“He [Energy Minister] said that because of that, there is a possibility that we may have interruptions in power supply, and the Ministry has put in place measures to ensure that we don’t have any nationwide dumsor or any dumsor as people are speculating.”