It is trite to state that, most of the transmission lines and transformers, as well as other equipment of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) are obsolete.

It is also important to point out that, due to the outmoded equipment they use, periodically they have to change, update or service some of them.

It is observable in most cases that, ECG, has found a very clever way to deny their customers of power by simply saying, they are embarking on a planned maintenance.

In some instances one area in a month, will go under planned maintenance more than twice and this could repeat itself almost every other month.

This unwholesome act has its consequences on the economy of the country. It can also negatively impact the government’s drive to lure investors into the country.

Power is a vehicle which drives manufacturing and commerce, any country that has shortage of power will only become a dumping ground for imported goods, as we have become.

In a meeting with the leaders of the country’s pharmaceutical and banking industries on Monday, March 16, 2020, at Jubilee House, President Akufo-Addo, bemoaned the overly-reliant nature of the country on foreign-made things across board.

According to the president, “We are not talking just pharmaceuticals. We are far too dependent on the things made abroad and imported by us for use. We should be making most of the things we need in Ghana ourselves, and I am seeing what is happening to us, in this crisis, as an opportunity. It has very big consequences, but it also an opportunity. They say necessity is the mother of invention and advisedly so”.

It is from this perspective that this newspaper holds strong the view that, if the call by the president is going to be achieved, then ECG, must be the first to take the lead.

Industry, cannot thrive unless they have steady and consistent supply of electricity. Running a factory on generator is very costly and unreliable.

Schools, churches, mosques, as well as public and social gatherings, have been suspended, this means a lot of people are going to stay indoors, giving light off, at this time is the not the best to contain the spread of the virus.