There's no dumsor in Ghana, everybody has power — Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has declared that Ghana's persistent electricity supply challenges have been resolved, claiming that every citizen now has access to power.

Speaking during an engagement with Ghanaians in Moscow, the President described the improvements in the energy sector as one of the most significant achievements of his administration.

"With regards to energy, I can report, there's no dumsor in Ghana, everybody has power, and that's one of the areas that has been quite dramatic in terms of its management," he told the gathering.

Mr Mahama said his government inherited a heavily indebted energy sector, with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) threatening to suspend electricity generation over outstanding payments estimated at $1.7 billion.

"When we came, we owed all the IPPs, and they were threatening to shut off power because the IPP debt was about $1.7 billion," he said.

He added that the government also faced unpaid bills for gas supplied from the Jubilee Field and by ENI, further worsening the sector's financial difficulties.

"Apart from that, we consumed gas from Jubilee Field, from ENI and had not paid for it. And we owed for gas supplied. So, it was necessary to clean out the energy sector," Mahama explained.

The President said the government had since settled the outstanding debts owed to IPPs and introduced a system to ensure regular payments for electricity supplied.

His comments come against the backdrop of Ghana's longstanding power supply challenges, which have been compounded over the years by financial difficulties and mounting debts within the energy sector.