Energy Minister John Abdulai Jinapor says he is determined to leave the energy sector better than he found it.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday, April 30, he said he is under no illusion about the challenges confronting the sector, especially with frequent power outages frustrating Ghanaians.
“If the roads are bad, people are unhappy. If water doesn’t flow, people are unhappy. But at night, when the lights go out, people get very upset and angry,” he said. “That’s what I’ve seen.”
He admitted that power issues have long plagued the country and insisted that the current administration inherited significant problems from the last government.
“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,” he stated.
“And if you look at the whole of 2024, virtually every month there was load shedding.”
Mr. Jinapor acknowledged that the responsibility ultimately falls on him as minister.
“When ECG commits a mistake, nobody knows the ECG MD. When the PURC does something wrong, nobody even knows who the Executive Secretary is. The same with the Energy Commission, GRIDCo, and VRA.”
“What people know is that there is a Minister appointed by the President to supervise the sector,” he said.
[embedded content]“Legitimately, the people of Ghana will always hold the Minister responsible. And by that, I take full responsibility. And by extension, the President, who will hold me accountable if something happens.”
He said he fully understands that in this job, success or failure is defined by one thing: lights staying on.
“Your predecessors have said that as Energy Minister, you live or die by how successful you are in managing the power sector,” the host pointed out. Mr. Jinapor agreed: “That is very true.”
He said he has been in the trenches of the sector for years and is not new to its problems.
“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.”
“I understand the gravity of the situation,” he continued.
“And I tell you, it is not easy. But there’s one thing I know—President Mahama chose me as Minister because he believes I can do this work.”
He ended with a firm pledge to Ghanaians and the President: “I am determined to do whatever it takes to improve the sector and ensure that by the time I leave office, this sector will have been much, much better than I inherited.”
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