By Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante, a Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Ghana, proposes that the recent sporadic power outages could influence the electoral prospects of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the upcoming 2024 general elections.
He noted that energy concerns serve as one of the factors voters consider when deciding which candidate or party to support.
Dr. Asah-Asante highlighted that the sporadic power cuts experienced during the administration of former President John Dramani Mahama significantly contributed to his electoral defeat, as the opposition NPP capitalized on it as a focal point in their campaign strategy.
“The elections that took Mahama home were fought on the basis of dumsor. This party [NPP] took advantage of that and drummed into the ears of Ghanaians and it formed part of the calculations or contributions that Ghanaians made in deciding who to vote for.
“Remember the dumsor economy which Dr. Bawumia made noise about which was legitimate at the time and the same legitimacy can be brought to bear on the current dumsor which the government is pretending doesn’t exist.”
Dr. Asah-Asante also voiced his concerns about the government’s management of the recent intermittent power disruptions, highlighting the burden it places on citizens. He emphasized the importance of the government acknowledging these challenges and demonstrating a commitment to addressing them.
“We feel it. We experience it. Let no one deceive himself or herself that the fact that you have not said it bluntly out loud means dumsor does not exist. It does and nobody can deceive anybody. Governance must be handled with truthfulness.
“Proceed with integrity, there is a problem. Just be forthright with it. Come out and say this problem exists, but as leaders, we will try and fix it.”
