Energy Consultant and former Technical Director of the Energy Commission of Ghana, Dr. Nii Darko Asante, has delivered a sharp critique of political involvement in Ghana’s ongoing power challenges, insisting that politicians cannot fix the technical issues behind recurring power outages, commonly known as dumsor.
Speaking in an interview on ABC In The Morning in the wake of concerns over the Akosombo fire incident and its impact on power supply, Dr. Asante said public discourse around the issue has been overly politicised, largely due to the media’s engagement choices.
“Politicians are responsible for what they say, we are also responsible for who we talk to and who we listen to; As for the politician, they will play I did better than you, oh no it was better in my time,” he stated.
He argued that political actors are often not equipped to address the root causes of power system failures.
“They [politicians] cannot fix the problems,” he stressed. “They are sitting in their offices talking to the people who fix the problems.”
Dr. Asante placed part of the blame on the media, accusing it of amplifying political narratives at the expense of technical expertise.
“It is the choice of the media to talk to the politician, and later on complain that we have politicized the whole power system,” he said. “But if you keep talking to the politicians, they will only talk about their performances, their capabilities, the failure of the previous or other party, so we also contribute to politicizing this thing.”
Positioning himself firmly as a technical expert, he distanced his analysis from partisan considerations.
“I am a technical person, I will not speak about whether NPP is better, NDC is better. Because at the end of the day, the issues we are dealing with are with the technical, physical equipment that work or fail depending on how they are operated or maintained; the ministers do not do that,” he explained.
Touching on the historical context of Ghana’s power infrastructure, Dr. Asante emphasised that the Akosombo Dam predates the current political era and should not be framed within partisan narratives.
“Akosombo has been there before the 4th republic, NPP didn’t setup Akosombo, neither did NDC,” he noted. “It happened in CPP time, but it was not by a politician running it; the politician provided the funding, or gave the assurances to the investors and so on, that is the role of the politician.”
His comments come amid renewed national attention on the stability of Ghana’s power supply following recent disruptions linked to the Akosombo facility, reigniting debate over accountability and solutions within the energy sector.
Dr. Asante’s intervention underscores a growing call among experts for a shift away from political rhetoric toward technical problem-solving in addressing Ghana’s persistent power challenges.
