We did not state that ‘Dumsor Is Back’ because we do not want to ruffle the feathers of those who manage the energy sector.
In an age where TikTokers can be traced through their IP addresses and virtually dragged to security setups for interrogation, many are now mindful about their choice of expressions.
To state that we are in a regime akin to the days of the culture of silence is near an understatement.
A couple of days ago, the country was plunged into an unwelcome darkness spell which lasted several hours. In Tamale and other parts of the country, the darkness lasted longer, the inconveniences following; biting and money-losing.
All of a sudden a carefully crafted PRish statement was released from the Corporate Affairs Unit of Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo). Long as it was, it sought to calm the nerves of anguished consumers.
The painstaking efforts which went into crafting the statement can only be imagined. But as to whether it addressed the suspicion about a more serious challenge confronting managers of the energy sector is left to the conjecture of Ghanaians. All is not well with the energy sector, a fact which government will do all it can to veneer for political reasons.
A cynic described the unstable supply of electricity as ‘disguised dumsor’, we are unable to suppress the mirth that followed.
In a political ambience dictated by setting or propaganda, pains are taken to conceal the realities just so citizens are not exposed to the realities on the ground.
The bit about engineers and technicians working around the clock to restore normalcy following the nationwide blackout was, as contained in the explanatory statement, only a tip of the iceberg, the main issue outside our view.
Previous watery explanations proffered by politically minded managers of the energy sector included a so-called sabotage attributed to New Patriotic Party (NPP) elements within the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), especially in Kumasi, lies which were as flimsy as they were cheap and infantile. There was also a bit about a male and female snake lurking in a transformer in a suburb of Kumasi, and that this made it impossible for ECG workers to work on the location.
In a government of settings, many things happen including lies.
As for the Energy Minister, his political responsibility over the energy sector and all that are contained therein cannot be taken away from him. Since the buck stops on his desk, he should be ready to address questions thereof.
A minister with a record of claiming the loss of many ECG containers at the port of Tema only to reduce the figure and parading some foreign suspects as being behind the container theft which never took place, should have his words taken with a pinch of salt.
The outcome of an investigation into the nationwide blackout will never come.