The twists and turns about Ghana’s energy crisis continue unabated. After a momentous announcement about government subsidy for electricity bills, President John Mahama has quickly abandoned the project, unashamedly creating an impression of being misunderstood.
Communication experts should not have challenges conveying their thoughts or even orders. When such announcements are shrouded in befuddlement, it is because the source of the message is seeking to conceal something unsavoury. This situation as a result, is characterized by counterstatements, withdrawals and the claim of skewed reportage by the media, among other excuses.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), a company to which many a state institution is indebted to almost an overwhelming pitch, he said, is doing a realignment to bring relief to consumers. This, he said, is what was misunderstood by Ghanaians to mean a subsidy.
Unfortunately, the ECG can hardly come out to dispute the president’s presentation although the inherent contradiction is not too difficult to discern.
Each elapsing day churns out new developments, complicating an already gloomy and confused energy situation.
The president ran away from the word ‘subsidy’, apprehensive of the implication when same comes to the notice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) administrators of the bitter pill, subsidy being a no-go area for subscribers of the Bretton Wood path.
There are so many segments to the energy story that no sooner are we done with composing one than a fresh development makes landfall.
So far though, the president’s about-turn on electricity subsidy has attracted a blend of scorn and opprobrium. The true picture of the energy crisis is far from being clear as government is not ready to let go the necessary details.
It is sad though that the intelligence of the Ghanaian is insulted constantly by state players, especially the Presidency. Otherwise, why would somebody tell Ghanaians as the president did, that the ECG is going to do realignment when the company is not even aware about what he is talking about? Whatever such realignment means does not matter if it does not lead to an affordable billing system for the ordinary or domestic consumer and the industrial. The ECG cannot be this generous as to undertake a realignment that would bring relief to consuming Ghanaians.
The president treated Ghanaians to another bout of political theatricals when he attributed the current inadequate gas supply to the activities of the Niger Delta militants although he was not as brusque. If he cited sabotage in Nigeria as being responsible for the stoppage of our gas supply, we are compelled to want to know whether our indebtedness to that country is no longer an issue and not the main reason for the worrying state of affairs.
Such contradictions deny the president’s remarks the credibility they deserve. We have heard so much so far about why our electricity supply is intermittent, but the more we do, the more we get befuddled. So much talk, yet little to smile about.