A few days ago, I had an ‘Atia’ moment with my classmates on our Whatsapp platform. One of my mates remarked wryly that I had so far not written a word about the power situation, especially since I now work at the Ministry of Energy.
A chorus of agreement followed on the platform.
The remark and the ensuing approvals reminded me of the story told of the legendary singer, A. B Crentsil, who once went to Bolgatanga to perform.
After several songs, his local fans reminded him that he had notably failed to perform his hit song ‘Atia’ (a parody of a fictional Bolgatanga native who relocated to Kumasi and died of excessive ‘akpeteshie’ consumption), and that whether he performed it or not, they would beat him anyway, so he might as well perform it.)
Settling into energy sector
It has been a baptism of fire of sorts at the ministry, especially given the nationwide blackout just a couple of days before the new Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, moved in to start work.
Perhaps the coincidence was a sign of the rough ride to come — a macabre ritual welcome of sorts, even if unintended.
Talk of being thrown in at the deep end of the pool of the power situation in the country, and then having to find a way to crawl out.
It has been nothing short of a crash course for me, sitting in on meeting after meeting trying to figure out exactly what was going on, with the experts throwing jargon in the air as they would confetti at a wedding, Upstream. Downstream. Gasification. Bulk Supply Point. Kilowatts. Automatic Tank Gauges. Unitisation…
All these on top of trying to fit into a new office environment — being able to put faces to names and roles, figuring out the subtle politics, checking out the choiciest food joints in the enclave and sorting out office space and other logistics, among others.
Then I had to note which agencies come under the ministry and what their mandates are.
There are 16 of them. It has been a slow but interesting process, and the learning takes place on a daily basis.
There has been an endless stream of CVs winging their way into my E-mail and in my Facebook account, looking for jobs and other opportunities in the sector agencies.
A particular favourite is the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), with Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) and Tema Oil Refinery snapping at their heels — understandable because they are deemed as juicy organisations.
It is quite tough trying to protest that I have hardly found my feet, but the persistence is hardly surprising, given the unemployment situation in the country.
I share an office with a former colleague from the Ministry of Education, Kwasi Obeng-Ofosu, who I consider my favourite nephew, and over the past month or so, we have been trying to prop each other up to fit in, sometimes literally kidnapping the technical people and holding them hostage in our office until they break this or that down to us.
They assure us gently that by the end of this year we will be speaking to energy issues in the media with the confidence and dexterity of experts. How comforting!
That dreaded word
In all of this, the reigning issue is the power situation in parts of the country, including the political near-brawl over whether or not we are in ‘dumsor’— that dreaded word that encapsulated the prolonged and desperate power situation in the country some six or so years ago, which contributed in no small measure to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) losing power in 2016, and which is far removed from what is being experienced now.
Understandably, the word is a dreaded one for all it stood for, and for obvious reasons, it is avoided like a plague by the incumbent political class (preferring the much sexier term ‘power outage’), while the opposition desperately seeks to wrap the word around government’s neck and demanding timetables, as if it is the ultimate evidence of ‘dumsor’.
Understandably, affected citizens do not give a hoot over what it should be called and over which the political class are brawling.
Demanding that the situation be stabilised is a very reasonable expectation from the citizen. But it is also important to understand what is going on.
Understanding the situation
Usually, power outages have been laid at the door of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), which has often been mocked as meaning ‘Electricity Comes and Goes’, or ‘Except Candles and Generators’, particularly during the dumsor era.
But apparently on this occasion, ECG is innocent, and the power player with live coals in its hat this time is Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), which is responsible for power transmission to ECG for distribution after the likes of the Volta River Authority (VRA) and others have generated the power.
Essentially, as I understand it, GRIDCo’s transmission systems do not have the capacity to handle the volume of power it needs to transmit to meet the current growth in demand.
This means that in Accra, work has to be done on the lines to increase their capacity, as well as two substations built at Kasoa and Pokuase.
To work on the lines means extra lines have to be strung, among others.
Apparently in Kumasi reliance has been on the Bui Dam, which has had several challenges and is unable to deliver, meaning power travelling all the way from the generation points between Tema and Takoradi upland.
The engineers say this compromises the quality of power transmitted.
The public angst in the affected areas is understandable. I have wallowed in heat when my electricity has gone off, whether I am in Accra or Kumasi, and it is not pleasant.
I cannot pretend otherwise just because I work in the sector. But it is also the truth that the situation is being worked upon and I believe it will improve.
Sometimes silence is golden, especially when you are learning the ropes. To my AF classmates from OWASS and you, dear reader, I say this; when I graduate, I will sing ‘Atia’ to everyone’s heart’s content, as I hear AB Crentsil eventually did in Bolgatanga to wild cheers, and with the finest Bolga pito in attendance.
Source: graphic.com.gh
