The then 2016 Presidential Candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has described power outage popularly known “Dumsor” which affected Ghanaians during John Dramani Mahama’s Presidency as an act of incompetent and mismanagement of the country’s little resources.
According to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who was yearning to win power in 2016, said, Dumsor boarders on Ghana’s survival.
The popular post made by President Nana Akufo-Addo made on 15th April, 2015 when addressing the University of Cape Coast students has surfaced on social media following the recent power outage across some part of Ghana especially Volta, Greater Accra and Kumasi.
In the statement Intercepted, reads;
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the devastation that “dumsor dusmsor” is wrecking on Ghana goes beyond opposition or government talk, as the cost of the erratic nature of power supply borders on the very survival of the citizenry and businesses in the country.
The 2016 Presidential Candidate of the NPP wondered why “government apologists are saying that after the government resolves the “dumsor” crisis we, as opposition people, will have nothing to talk about.”
“I am astonished by this proposition,” Nana Addo saidd, adding that dumsor “is not a campaign weapon. It borders on the very survival of our country.”
Addressing students of the University of Cape Coast over the weekend, Nana Addo stated that the estimates made by the highly respected Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), put the cost of “dumsor” for 2014 alone in excess of 1 billion Ghana Cedis.
Nana Akufo-Addo reiterated that if the nation considers the fact that ‘dumsor dumsor’ has been going on since 2012, “then we are talking about a national loss of some 4 billion Cedis.”
He noted that “today, industries are folding up, workers are being retrenched, livelihoods are being lost, people are dying needlessly in our hospitals, our economy is in serious decline, all of which add up to the ravages of poverty and disease. These are not matters about which a nation can recover with the wave of a hand or with the resolution of the crisis of ‘dumsor’”.
“How does the resolution of the crisis of “dumsor” resurrect the many Ghanaians who have lost their lives in hospitals across the country? How does the resolution of the crisis of “dumsor” restore the livelihoods of the thousands of workers who have lost their jobs? How does the resolution of the crisis of “dumsor” restore the loss of productivity over the past three years?” Nana Addo asked.
He continued, “I know of a group of investors who have their factories around the Achimota Brewery, and who manufacture plastic products. They have closed shop and are leaving for Ethiopia. There are many, many such stories. Today, investor confidence in our country is at an all- time low. The 4 billion Ghana Cedis that this nation has lost to the crisis of “dumsor” can per the calculation of this government build about 60 senior high schools.”
The NPP flagbearer also recounted the suggestion made by the Director General of Ghana Health Services, Dr. Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyira, to health facilities to charge patients an extra amount of money to take care of the cost of “dumsor.”
“Already the health insurance scheme which the NPP government under President Kufuor introduced has collapsed and to think that we will have to pay extra to take care of “dumsor” is unimaginable,” he added.
Nana Addo made these remarks when he addressed students of the University of Cape Coast over the weekend.
