Saturday,
October 20, 2012
Isn’t
it troubling that Ghanaians continue to suffer from the curse of load shedding
(power rationing) every year while those in authority look on unconcerned until
election time approaches when they emerge on rooftops to project the Father
Christmas in them?
The
denial of electricity to the people traumatizes them in many ways but there is
nothing on the horizon to suggest that the problem will be solved soon. It has
been so for decades and won’t end soon, no matter what the politicians promise.
In Ghanaian politics, the “promise-and-fail” norm is beyond debate.
Our
politicians are swarming the nooks and crannies of the country, pestering
voters for their support to be or remain in power. All manner of promises are flying
about and they are glibly adding more to what our ears are already stopped to.
All
these promises are mostly being made on the spur of the moment just for cheap political
points. Those promising “free everything” (senior high school education and
health care, construction of more infrastructure to support teachers,
establishment of new universities, increased salaries for workers, and many
more) are wasting their breath. They don’t appeal to me and those who think
like me because they don’t know what the real national problems are.
Without
a constant (uninterrupted) supply of electricity, how much can those
institutions and people do to add anything new to the national complexion?
The
causes of our national underdevelopment are many; but I single out the electricity
sector, which is pivotal but given little attention in the workings of our leaders
and their opponents seeking office.
The
perennial power-rationing (load shedding) exercise is a real threat to our
survival. It lowers productivity and imposes enormous hardships on the people. Don’t
our leaders know how important electricity is to human existence in this 21st
century to solve this energy crisis once and for all?
In
other countries, a second of electricity outage is disastrous, which is why all
possible sources of power generation are explored and utilized to enhance
national development and a congenial living situation for the citizens.
In
such systems, hardly do the citizens troop out in search of greener pastures and
better living conditions as we do in our part of the world just because there
is so much diffidence in our own system—fuelled by a sagging economy—largely attributable
to the incompetence of our leaders.
Don’t
get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with Ghanaian intellectuals and
technocrats seeking better conditions abroad. After all, every human being wants
to get the best out of life, and if working abroad is what will fetch these
well-trained Ghanaians the succour that they need to live their lives in
comfort, no one has any right to question where they use their talents and skills.
Or where they live.
But
there is a lot wrong with what we have seen happening over the years in terms
of the unregulated exit of such skilled workers to other countries just to make
a living because conditions in Ghana aren’t favourable for them. We have all
along been complaining about the brain drain phenomenon that has snatched away
highly qualified Ghanaian technocrats and generally unskilled labour who “kill”
themselves for the betterment of countries accommodating their interests while
denying their own country that benefit.
And
these are people on whom the country has spent huge resources educating and
training for the job market. These are people who have benefited from all kinds
of scholarships (sometimes government-sponsored) for advanced training abroad
and expected to return home but don’t. They don’t make their skills, acumen,
and experiences available to Ghana because they don’t like the negative aspects
of national life that frustrate instead of facilitating their efforts at
contributing their quota to national development.
We
already know the major problems that repel these technocrats: useless bureaucracy
and red-tapeism in government, nonavailability of jobs, bribery and corruption,
nepotism and cronyism, horrible conditions of service, and many more.
Underlying
all these hindrances are the major inadequacies that irritate these
technocrats. This is where the aspects concerning energy and communication
network come in. No one will be attracted by a system with erratic power supply
and negative attitudes that dampen spirits. No power means no activity.
Regardless
of the good intentions behind the politicking going on, nothing will change if
the energy sector remains as it has been all these years that the country has
depended on hydro-electricity from Akosombo and Kpong as well as the expensive Aboadze
thermal plant or others such as the Asogli generating system, a private
initiative.
The
Bui hydro-electricity project is yet to add anything to the existing grid; but
knowing very well that it is also water-based, I have my doubts whether it won’t
go the same way as we have become all-too-familiar with.
It
is disgusting that we still continue to depend on Mother Nature for the means
to generate electricity. We seem to be content with this dependence and thump
our chests for supplying this hydro-electric power to neighbouring countries
during the rainy season only to stand bemused before them in the dry season
when power rationing becomes the only solution to our energy crisis.
I
don’t intend to blame anybody for this lapse, but I will say with measured
disdain that those from the political camp(s) who are now using all the power
and resources available to them to hold Ghanaian voters hostage in search for
their mandate to rule the country set the stage for this negative trend.
I
won’t mince words. Those “Mate Me Ho” elements who worked against Nkrumah when
he initiated the Akosombo hydro-electricity project come to mind. Led by Dr.
K.A. Busia and J.B. Danquah, the United Party vehemently undermined Nkrumah’s
efforts to the extent of sending a delegation to President Kennedy of the
United States not to allow the Kaiser group to give Nkrumah’s government the
loan it was seeking to construct the project.
Common
sense prevailed and they failed. The Akosombo dam materialized in 1962 for
Ghana’s benefit.
As
if that undermining wasn’t enough, when the “Mate Me Ho” group entered office,
it revisited the electricity issue, especially as it sought to implement its
Rural Development Programme. Guess what?
The
negativity still beclouded the minds of members of that Progress Party
government to the extent that Dr. Busia himself was audacious (or mischievous?)
enough to tell Ghanaians up north that “It is impossible for anybody to think
that the hydro-electricity project can be extended from Akosombo to Brong-Ahafo
and Northern Ghana.”
Indeed,
that government and its successors obeyed that self-fulfilling prophecy from
Busia. It was only when Rawlings stepped in with the dogged determination to
defy that curse that the national grid began being extended to cover the
existing 110 districts during his reign. Congratulations to him for taking this
bold step.
But
this bold step has some negative effects as we can tell from the extreme
pressure that it has put on Akosombo, Kpong, and Aboadze. None of the
governments has done anything to improve the situation. Neither the current
government nor the rival political parties can persuade me to the contrary.
Here is why:
- The Kwabenya Atomic Energy plant exists for other
purposes than providing the energy that was a major aspect of the
motivation driving Nkrumah into establishing it.
- Nothing is being done to look toward solar energy to enhance
the energy sector although we are blessed with enormous sunshine all year
round. Research confirms how cheap but extremely efficient solar energy is.
- We are lucky to have wind as a major resource but no
government has ever dreamt of harvesting it to meet our energy needs.
- Then again, we generate enormous biodiversity (human and
animal excreta) that can be easily converted into energy; but we are so
shortsighted and self-destructive as not to know how to tap into this
resource base to ease our suffering.
- There are many others to consider. We may be scared of
nuclear power—not because it is harmful to us but because we can’t trust
our government to ensure that if established, the nuclear plants will be
properly maintained to prevent disaster. In a country with a disgusting
culture of maintenance, recourse to anything of this sort is nothing but
the signing our own death warrant.
The
shoddiness in government business doesn’t end there. Look at how long it is
taking for the West African Gas Project to be functional. Today, we are
exploiting our own petroleum resources, generating enormous gas but not knowing
how to use it to enhance energy production.
Instead,
those entrusted with the responsibility of managing the industry are beginning
to fall prey to the pervasive canker of bribery and corruption. We hear them
calling for an investigation to be conducted into their procurement practices,
and we cringe!
So,
as over-dependence on what the Volta River Authority generates has virtually
brought the energy sector down to its knees, the incumbent government is happy
to announce that the perennial load-shedding (power rationing) will end in
December, having disrupted normalcy in the country for several months already.
Trust
the shortsightedness of those in authority. The cycle of load-shedding will be
repeated next year when Mother Nature takes back its water supply from the
catchment areas of the hydro-electricity source.
Then,
the massaging of feelings will become the order of the day as we are already
noticing in this electioneering campaign period.
For
me, until any of these political parties or the current government persuades me
that it is doing anything concrete to expand and revamp the energy sector,
nothing will move me to support it. How about you?
- E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
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