The Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, has directed the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Grid Company Limited, Mark Awuah Baah, to step aside while investigations into the incident are carried out. The move signals what officials describe as a firm response to the operational disruptions caused by the fire.
Details of the directive were made public by Felix Kwakye Ofosu in a statement shared via his official X (formerly Twitter) account on Sunday, April 26.
The fire, which broke out on April 23 at the Akosombo facility, significantly impacted power generation and transmission, removing between 720 and nearly 1,000 megawatts from the national grid. The disruption forced authorities to suspend electricity exports and raised concerns about the resilience of Ghana’s power infrastructure.
In response, the government has ordered a comprehensive nationwide audit of all energy installations, set to begin on Monday, April 27. The exercise is expected to assess vulnerabilities across the system and recommend corrective measures to prevent future incidents.
The fallout has not been limited to GRIDCo. A separate shake-up is underway within the Electricity Company of Ghana, particularly in the Ashanti Region, where the outage triggered widespread blackouts affecting homes, businesses, and industrial operations. The leadership changes are aimed at strengthening operational efficiency and restoring public confidence in power distribution.
John Abdulai Jinapor is expected to address the nation in a press briefing scheduled for 2 p.m. on Monday, where he will outline further measures being taken to stabilize electricity supply and respond to recent disruptions.
Meanwhile, The Intermittent power outages across Ghana have reignited concerns about the stability of Ghana’s energy sector following a devastating fire at the Akosombo power control centre.
