The Minority in Parliament has accused the government of misleading Ghanaians over the true state of the country’s worsening power situation, insisting that what is being described as routine maintenance and transformer upgrades is in fact a full-blown supply crisis.

Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Energy Committee, Collins Adomako-Mensah, speaking for the Minority, said the government was engaging in what he called “semantic deception” by downplaying nationwide outages linked to ongoing grid challenges.

“The government must immediately stop describing a nationwide power crisis as a planned maintenance programme or a series of routine transformer upgrades. Ghanaians are not fooled. The lights are out because this government failed to implement the recovery plan it inherited, not because of engineering schedules,” he said.

His comments come amid renewed tensions over Ghana’s electricity supply stability following disruptions that have affected parts of the country in recent weeks.

The Minority maintains that the situation is being driven by policy and implementation failures, particularly the alleged non-execution of the Energy Sector Recovery Programme inherited from the previous administration.

The debate is unfolding against the backdrop of a major disturbance to the national grid after a fire at the Akosombo substation on April 23, 2026, which damaged a critical transmission system and disrupted power evacuation from the dam to the national grid. The incident temporarily removed over 1,000 megawatts of capacity, triggering widespread outages across the country.

In response to the incident, the government has taken administrative steps, including directing the Chief Executive of GRIDCo, Mark Awuah Baah, to step aside pending investigations.

His deputy, Frank Otchere, has since assumed interim responsibility.

Felix Kwakye Ofosu announced the directive on April 26, while investigations into the cause of the fire continue.

Energy Minister John Jinapor, however, has rejected claims of negligence or policy failure, arguing that the disruptions are the result of an “unprecedented and unforeseeable” incident, compounded by long-standing infrastructure deficits.

“We will not shirk responsibility. We will not deceive you. We will not live in denial — when we face challenges, we will tell Ghanaians,” he said at a press briefing on April 27.

Despite the differing political narratives, both sides acknowledge the strain on the power sector, with the government rolling out emergency interventions, including a nationwide transformer upgrade and replacement programme.

According to officials, about 200 transformers have already been installed in April 2026, with another 140 expected within days as part of a larger plan to deploy 2,500 units nationwide. Transmission reinforcement works in Kumasi are also scheduled for June.

For the Minority, however, the focus remains on accountability and implementation. Adomako-Mensah is calling for the full rollout of the recovery programme with independent verification and a clear timeline.

“There is no credible alternative,” he insisted.

With parts of the grid still under pressure and public concern rising, the political disagreement over the cause of the crisis is increasingly overshadowed by growing calls for a stable and uninterrupted power supply across the country.