The Politics Of Power Crises In Ghana – Chronology Of Government Responses And Lessons For Ending The Current Crisis

The discomfort that comes with power crisis and the devastation caused the economy are the reasons every government must be visionary and responsive in preventing its occurrence. It is no more secret that Ghanaians are not happy about the last three years of power crises and our inability as a country to confront the challenge in spite of the lessons previous power crises have presented us with. It is also true that in all the power crises that we went through except the 1983 one, politics have always reared its ugly head, with political actors shifting blames, and questioning the amount of generation capacity each party in government at the time added to installed generation capacity. The reality however is that every one of our constitutional governments added to the generation capacity; and made efforts to address the power crises of their times. These provide lessons on how to address the current power crisis. Indeed our history shows that, we have successfully managed power crises in the past; and we can do it again if we muster the necessary political will and courage to take bold decisions. This paper attempts to highlight the chronology of interventions by previous governments to addressing power crises and to bring to attention lessons that can help solve the current one.

The reality however is that every one of our constitutional governments added to the generation capacity; and made efforts to address the power crises of their times. These provide lessons on how to address the current power crisis. Indeed our history shows that, we have successfully managed power crises in the past; and we can do it again if we muster the necessary political will and courage to take bold decisions. This paper attempts to highlight the chronology of interventions by previous governments to addressing power crises and to bring to attention lessons that can help solve the current one.