Energy Minister John Abdulai Jinapor has pledged to leave Ghana’s energy sector in a better state than he found it, acknowledging the challenges confronting the country, particularly frequent power outages frustrating citizens nationwide.
Speaking in an interview, Jinapor admitted that power issues have long plagued the nation, emphasizing that the current administration inherited significant energy problems from its predecessor.
“In fact, as far back as December, when we were about going into the election, and that was the last month of the NPP administration, they were shedding about 500 megawatts of power. And if you look at the whole of 2024, virtually every month there was load shedding.”
Jinapor stressed that as Energy Minister, the responsibility ultimately rests on him, regardless of issues within agencies like ECG, GRIDCo, or the Energy Commission.
“What people know is that there is a Minister appointed by the President to supervise the sector. Legitimately, the people of Ghana will always hold the Minister responsible. And by that, I take full responsibility.”
He also acknowledged President John Dramani Mahama’s confidence in his ability to fix Ghana’s power challenges.
“I’ve been Deputy Minister before. I have virtually acted before in this sector. And now I’m the substantive Minister. And so I understand the enormity of the challenge”.
Despite the difficulties, he remains committed to turning the sector around, assuring Ghanaians that he will do whatever it takes to stabilize power supply and improve the industry.
“By the time I leave office, this sector will have been much, much better than I inherited,”.
Jinapor’s comments come as load shedding continues to impact households and businesses, fueling concerns over Ghana’s energy stability and infrastructure development.