Okere Residents Decry Years of ‘Dumsor’ Despite Proximity to Akosombo

Residents of the Okere District in the Eastern Region have raised concerns over what they describe as years of persistent and unexplained power outages, despite the district’s proximity to the Akosombo power generation facility.

The concerns have been detailed by Seth Afum A. Dankwah of J. G. Knol Technical Institute, Adukrom-Akuapem, in an account highlighting the impact of prolonged power interruptions on households, schools, healthcare facilities, businesses, security and community activities.

According to Dankwah, he lived in Mampong-Akuapem in the Akuapem North District and commuted to work in the neighbouring Okere District from 2012 until the middle of 2026.

He said the experience exposed him to what he described as a “tale of two towns”, with Mampong often having electricity while Okere, only about 25 minutes away, remained in darkness.

Dankwah said he would frequently leave Mampong with electricity powering homes, radios and household activities, only to arrive in Adukrom and other parts of Okere where residents were experiencing complete power outages.

He has since relocated permanently to Okere and says the situation, which was previously a workplace inconvenience, has now become a daily reality affecting his home and community.

Dankwah said Okere’s electricity challenges did not begin in 2012 but had existed even before he started working in the district.

He argued that the problem had persisted through different governments, District Chief Executives and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) district managers, despite repeated promises to address the situation.

He described the persistent outages as having become a permanent feature of life in the district.

According to him, the situation is particularly difficult to understand because Okere is located less than 30 kilometres from Akosombo, where the Volta River is used to generate electricity for Ghana.

Dankwah said Okere District, which includes Adukrom, Abiriw, Dawu, Awukugua, Apirede, Abonse, Aseseeso and Asenema, is geographically close to the Akosombo power generation area.

He said he had been informed that the Adukrom Waterworks receives a dedicated high-tension electricity supply directly from the Akuse corridor through Adelakope and Akorley.

According to him, that line is frequently supplied with power even when large parts of Okere are without electricity.

He explained that the rest of the district, including homes, schools, health facilities and businesses, receives electricity from the Mampong Substation in the Akuapem North District.

Dankwah said Mampong is about 25 minutes away from Okere and questioned why electricity availability in Mampong does not translate into reliable supply for Okere.

He said residents have observed a recurring pattern in which Mampong, Akropong and Mamfe in Akuapem North, as well as Somanya and Odumase in the Krobo area, have electricity while Okere, located between these communities, remains in darkness.

“If your source has light and you who are fed from that source are in darkness, your problem is not generation from Akosombo,” he argued.

He suspects the challenge may instead be linked to local distribution infrastructure, including what he described as undersized and overloaded transformers and a weak, single feeder serving the Mampong-Okere area.

Dankwah noted that Adukrom became the capital of the Okere District in 2018 and has since experienced population growth, expansion of businesses and increased demand for electricity.

He believes the electricity infrastructure serving the district has not kept pace with this growth.

According to him, some transformers are unable to withstand increased demand and frequently trip, leaving communities without power.

He therefore called for a technical assessment of the electricity infrastructure serving Okere to determine the actual cause of the recurring outages.

The power crisis, according to Dankwah, is affecting education across the district.

He questioned how teachers can prepare lesson notes and other teaching materials at night when electricity is unavailable.

He also raised concerns about Junior High School and Senior High School students who require electricity for evening preparation, particularly those preparing for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Teachers, he said, struggle to charge phones and laptops, print worksheets, and carry out other activities requiring electricity.

He also pointed to the situation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) teachers who sometimes have to teach computing without being able to power computers.

Dankwah said health facilities in Okere also bear the consequences of the outages.

He cited facilities in Adukrom, Abiriw and Aseseeso, saying they are forced to rely on generators whenever the power goes off.

He said the cost of fuel places additional pressure on health facilities that already operate with limited resources.

He also expressed concern about the possible impact of prolonged outages on vaccines and other medical supplies that require refrigeration.

According to him, night-time deliveries sometimes have to be conducted with torchlights, while laboratories may be unable to perform certain tests during power outages.

He further said patients requiring nebulisers and other electricity-dependent medical equipment could be placed in difficult situations when electricity supply is interrupted.

The persistent darkness also has implications for security, Dankwah said.

He mentioned police facilities at Adukrom, Okra Kwadwo and Amanfro as being affected by the outages.

He said the loss of street lighting leaves sections of the district capital in darkness and reduces visibility for security patrols.

According to him, the situation represents a security risk that residents have unfortunately become accustomed to.

Dankwah said the Okere District Assembly also suffers whenever electricity supply is interrupted.

He said the Assembly may be unable to print documents, maintain network connectivity or conduct normal administrative operations.

The Ghana Education Service office at Apirede and the Health Directorate at Dawu are also among the institutions he said are affected.

He further cited Okere Rural Bank, which he said frequently relies on a standby generator.

According to him, the cost of diesel for maintaining power at the bank adds significantly to its operating expenses.

He questioned how Okere can attract businesses and investors when basic electricity supply remains unreliable.

The outages, according to Dankwah, are also taking a financial toll on households.

He said the repeated switching on and off of electricity can damage refrigerators, televisions, microwaves, stabilisers and other electrical appliances.

He added that boarding schools, restaurants and market women who store frozen food also risk losing their goods when freezers remain without power for extended periods.

Families, he said, also struggle to iron school uniforms and use electric cookers to prepare meals when electricity is unavailable.

Some households, according to him, can point to burnt stabilisers, damaged televisions and other appliances which they believe were affected by the unstable supply.

He also complained about the lack of compensation for customers whose appliances are damaged.

Dankwah said the effects of the electricity crisis extend beyond economic and public services to Okere’s social and cultural life.

Churches holding Sunday services, Wednesday and Friday evening programmes, all-night services and crusades often have to rely on generators.

He said the cost of fuel increases the financial burden on churches, while generator noise can interfere with church programmes.

Funerals are also affected, he said, particularly because final funeral rites and family gatherings in Okere often continue into the night.

Without electricity, public address systems, microphones, lighting and other equipment may stop working, forcing bereaved families to spend additional money to hire generators.

Naming ceremonies, weddings, traditional engagements and other social events also face challenges when electricity is unavailable.

Dankwah said food stored for guests can spoil when freezers lose power, while traditional programmes and community gatherings may be disrupted.

He also mentioned traditional authorities and community activities, including Odwira celebrations, where palaces and durbars require electricity for lighting and other arrangements.

He said young people who could otherwise use the evenings for studies, vocational activities or other productive work are sometimes left idle because of the darkness.

“We are not just losing power; we are losing our community life, our togetherness, our culture,” he said.

Dankwah also drew attention to the different ECG arrangements involved in supplying electricity to the area.

He said ECG’s Tema Region, Krobo District in Somanya, controls the major high-tension supply serving the Waterworks, while ECG’s Eastern Region, Mampong District, bills and services domestic and commercial electricity from the Mampong feeder.

He provided the following contacts for the respective ECG operations: Krobo District in Somanya – 050 161 6351, and Mampong District – 020 516 4188.

According to him, this arrangement means that when the Mampong-Okere feeder experiences problems, residents and businesses in Okere bear the consequences.

Dankwah also recounted an experience shared by his colleague, Stephen Atobrah, following a 24-hour power outage in Adukrom-Akuapem.

He said Atobrah contacted ECG about the outage but was reportedly informed that workers were cutting tree branches or logs and needed his assistance to cut the trees to facilitate restoration.

Dankwah questioned the situation, saying customers who pay for electricity should not be expected to provide labour to restore the service.

Dankwah is appealing to ECG Eastern Region and the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to urgently investigate and address the electricity challenges facing Okere.

He is calling for an audit and upgrade of all transformers serving communities on the Mampong feeder.

He also wants the dedicated Mampong-Okere feeder reconstructed and strengthened to improve the reliability of electricity supply to the district.

He further called for the establishment of a rapid-response team dedicated to Okere to ensure that outages are addressed more quickly.

Where load-shedding is unavoidable, he wants ECG to publish a clear timetable so residents, schools, businesses and public institutions can plan around the outages.

He also called for consideration of compensation mechanisms for customers whose appliances are damaged by persistent power interruptions and unstable supply.

Dankwah said that after experiencing the situation for nearly 14 years as a commuter and now as a resident, he believes Okere deserves urgent attention.

He described Okere as a peaceful and developing district that pays its electricity bills and deserves a reliable power supply.

“The power comes from Akosombo, passes through Mampong, to Okere. It passes over Okere to light Accra. It is time it lights Okere regularly too,” he said.

The statement was issued by Seth Afum A. Dankwah, of J. G. Knol Technical Institute, Adukrom-Akuapem, Eastern Region, on September 13, 2026.