Scenes during the demonstration
The Coalition of Salaga Deserves Better Youth Groups in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region, has embarked on a peaceful demonstration to register their displeasure over the persistent erratic power outages and chronically low current in the municipality.
The youth groups demonstrated through the Salaga township displaying placards such as “We need our sub-station”, “We are tired of promises”, “We are also citizens”, and “Salaga deserves better” among others.
According to the youth groups, the persistent erratic power outages affects social and economic activities as well as damages business and household appliances such as cold storage and refrigerators, television, fans, and broader setbacks to municipal development.
They also linked the intermittent power supply to poor student performance in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), adding that many students lack stable evening lighting for study.
The youth groups noted that the municipality has endured unreliable electricity for years despite repeated meetings with stakeholders, including youth leaders, traditional and religious authorities, and officials from the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo).
The leader of the Coalition of Salaga Deserves Better Youth Groups, Mr. Abu Fuseini, told journalists that a joint stakeholder engagement convened by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) with VRA, NEDCo, youth, traditional and religious leaders on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, concluded that the situation is beyond the capacity of municipal authorities and the agencies present, and that only central government intervention can deliver a durable solution.
He revealed that the Minister for Energy has been petitioned; demanding the reconnection of Salaga to the lines that will provide stable electricity, connection of Salaga to the Bui power network, reconnection to the Northern Region transmission line and the immediate siting and construction of the permanent substation in Salaga.
“The coalition has been persistent and patient, but demands swift action from the government to end what can be best described as a decades‑long power crisis,” he disclosed.
The East Gonja Municipal Assembly Coordinator, Alhassan Mahamadu Kamara, who received the petition on behalf of the MCE, assured the demonstrators that it will be presented to the MCE for the necessary action.
FROM Eric Kombat, Salaga