Mahama Hails VRA and GRIDCo Engineers as Heroes After All Six Akosombo Turbines Restored to Full Operation

President delivers good news at May Day rally in Koforidua as he pivots from grid crisis to economic reset agenda

President John Dramani Mahama has publicly commended engineers of the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) for restoring the Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam to full capacity, announcing that all six turbines at the generating station were back online as of Thursday night following a devastating fire in the facility’s Switchyard Control Room.

The President made the announcement at the 2026 May Day celebration held at Jackson Park in Koforidua, Eastern Region, on Friday a day after personally inspecting damage at the Akosombo station.

“I know many of you are concerned about the disruptions to the electricity supply caused by the Akosombo fire, but I want to share the good news that the GRIDCo and VRA engineers working together have been able to bypass the burnt-out control room and have restarted all the six turbines at the Akosombo Generating Station,” President Mahama told the gathering.

“And so as of last night, the Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam is fully operational.”

Engineers Bypass Burnt Control Room in Technical Feat

The restoration is being hailed as a significant engineering achievement. Rather than waiting for the fire-damaged Switchyard Control Room to be repaired or replaced  a process that could have taken weeks VRA and GRIDCo engineers devised a workaround that allowed them to bring all six turbines back into service within days of the incident.

President Mahama described the workforce behind the feat as a living testament to the value of Ghanaian workers, saying they represented the nation’s most important asset.

The fire at the Akosombo Power Control Centre had triggered a nationwide grid crisis, forcing emergency shutdowns and knocking out an estimated 720 to 1,000 megawatts of transmission capacity — crippling power supply to homes and businesses across multiple regions.

May Day Platform Becomes Forum for Economic Reset Message

Beyond the grid restoration, President Mahama used the May Day platform to take stock of his administration’s economic performance and outline the next phase of Ghana’s recovery.

Reflecting on this year’s celebration theme “Pivoting to Growth, Jobs and Sustainable Livelihoods: Resetting Ghana Beyond Macroeconomic Stability” the President said it accurately captured his administration’s governing roadmap.

He told workers that his government had made measurable progress on the economic stabilisation front since taking office, pointing to reduced inflation, a stabilised cedi, lower interest rates, restored fiscal discipline and renewed investor confidence.

“Today, I am pleased to report that we have made significant progress,” he said, adding that while the gains were modest, they marked a decisive turning point — shifting Ghana from recovery to transformation and from economic fragility to resilience.

He was careful, however, to frame macroeconomic stability as a means to an end rather than the destination itself.

“Stability is the foundation, but it is not the house. The reset we speak of is about building that house on a stable foundation. It is about moving from surviving to thriving, and from debt distress to economic surplus,” the President said.

Resetting Ghana Tour Continues

President Mahama is in the Eastern Region on a two-day Resetting Ghana Tour, which is expected to culminate on Saturday, May 2, with a town hall meeting in Koforidua. The session will bring together students, artisans, teachers, nurses, traders, and traditional and religious leaders from across the region  reflecting the administration’s effort to take its policy messaging directly to communities.