Prez. Mahama renders unqualified apology to media

• Posted on October 22, 2015
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

PRESIDENT MAHAMA has rendered unqualified apology to media practitioners in the country on behalf of Power Minister, Kwabena Donkor, for being discourteous to a journalist during a radio interview over the power crisis.

Mr. Donkor told a journalist to go and ask President Mahama about the date that the power crisis, also known as dumsor, would end. Instead of stating the date, the power minister asked the interviewer to go and ask the president.

President Mahama, without mincing words, stated that Kwabena Donkor erred by being rude to the reporter, indicating that perhaps the power minister was angry and that might have accounted for the answer he gave.

According to the president, he (Mahama) said during his recent tour of the country that very soon the power minister would officially announce the end of the dumsor, which had collapsed numerous businesses in the country.

He said the following day after his (Mahama’s) delivery, a reporter called Kwabena Donkor, demanding from him to announce the date that the dumsor would end.

He noted that Kwabena Donkor, “who I suspect was not in good mood,” replied the reporter in an impolite fashion, reiterating that media practitioners should forgive the minister who goofed badly on that day.

Headache

President Mahama, who was addressing selected business people in the Ashanti Region during his tour of the area, disclosed that he was aware of the mountainous challenges facing the business community in the country due to the dumsor.

“The dumsor is giving me headache,” the first gentleman of the land disclosed, assuring that his administration was doing everything humanly possible to bring the power crisis to an end and bring relief to Ghanaians.

No Money

President Mahama finally confirmed claims by his political opponents that the ongoing power crisis is as a result of lack of money to purchase crude to power the thermal plants.

“I must say that money and generation problems have caused the ongoing power crisis in our country,” the president replied a Kumasi-based businessman who asked him to state the exact cause of the power challenge.

President Mahama explained that monies being collected by the ECG as tariffs to pay the VRA are not enough and that had created a huge debt, adding that the power being generated too is not enough for the country’s demand.

“So many people are not paying for the power that they use in their houses and workplaces,” he claimed with a grim face, adding that “There are illegal connections all over, and these have resulted in the dumsor.”

According to him, cost of using power is expensive in the country, partly because a few people are paying the tariffs, stressing that the cost would reduce significantly if everyone was to pay for power used.

President Mahama, who was being forthright, stated that if Ghanaians really want to see the end of the dumsor, then they should be prepared to pay more for power, adding that “The days for cheap Akosombo power are over.”

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi