President John Dramani Mahama has attributed Ghana’s power crisis to the mismanagement of revenues generated from the Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA).

During a meeting with the Independent Power Producers on January 13, 2025, he noted that the monies have not been used for their intended purposes.

"After we passed it and left office in December, the new government came in and they had other ideas and other ways of trying to do things. But unfortunately, one of the outcomes was that ESLA was not used for its intended purpose. Revenues of ESLA were mismanaged. So, what should have gone to pay down a lot of the debts that have accumulated today was used for other purposes," he said.

The meeting between the IPPs and the president was to address the ongoing challenges in Ghana’s power sector.

The dialogues also aimed to address significant financial disputes, particularly the government’s outstanding debt to the IPPs, which had reached a staggering $1.2 billion as of October 2024.

The ESLA was introduced in 2015 by the previous Mahama administration to tackle the growing debts in Ghana's energy sector, stabilise the industry, and ensure a reliable power supply.

Earlier, the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) informed the government that it would be shutting down operations for scheduled maintenance, further increasing the risk of power shortages in the country.

After various considerations, the scheduled shutdown by WAPCo was postponed for two weeks, averting the intended “dumsor”.



SSD/AE

Meanwhile, watch as Archbishop Duncan-Williams urges leaders to connect with their voters: