January 22, 1966 marked the start of a new era for Ghana. Modernization was supposed to come in the shape of of 1,030 megawatt-generating Akosombo hydroelectric dam inaugurated that day.

The giant Volta River project was constructed in collaboration with the United State and with support from the World Bank which would be able to produce vast quantities of cheap power, boosting the creation of a modern and industrial state. This is a little history of Nkrumah's Akosombo hydroelectric dam.

As Ghana population grows, power consumption increases and when power consumption increases power generated was not sufficient for the entire population so Ghana encounted Dumsor under President Jerry John Rawlings, President John Agyekum Kufuor, President Atta Mills, President John Mahama and at the earlier stages of President Akuffo Addo's government this current government suffered dumsor. That was when a member of parliament in opposition described it as "presor" meaning the power outages was frequent.

Dumsor during President Mahama's era was the longest that have ever happened in the history of Ghana and it affected families, hospitals, factories, businesses and universities. It drastically reduced productivity in the entire country.

Former President Mahama tried to solve the dumsor situation by bringing in power barges but the power problem couldn't solve, Ghana owed Nigeria pertaining to the West Africa gas pipeline so there was not enough funding for fuel to power the other thermal plant.

Dumsor was ended during President Akuffo tenure after serious criticism from the opposition leader in parliament (Haruna Iddrisu) calling the situation "presor". Mr President through his economic management team was able to mobilize funds to clear the Nigerian gas debt and have been able to sustain electricity power till now. Mahama should be truthful and thankful to President Akuffo Addo for clearing his mess.

Edmund Kyei
1st Vice Chairman Asokwa NPP
Member of NPP Communication