Dumsor

Dumsor is a popular Ghanaian term used to describe persistent electric power outages which have resulted due to the insufficient power production to meet the population growth of the country. Insufficient power supply means that a load shedding exercise is carried out daily by the Ghana Grid Company and Electricity Company of Ghana^. The term started gaining prominence in 2009 when water levels of the Akosombo Dam dropped significantly which consequently led to a load shedding exercise due to the reduced generation capacity of the country's main hydro-electric dam. The load shedding exercise has since continued and has plunged the country into a major power crisis.


                                                           USAGE 
The word has been used by the general public in Ghana in expressing anger at and disappointment in authorities of the NDC Government.It has also gained popularity via social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #Dumsor. The term is a compound word generated from two words from the Twi dialect of the Akan language (a language spoken widely in Ghana): dum (to turn off or quench) and sɔ(to turn on or to light). In 2015, John Mahama used the word in a state visit to Germany while talking with Angela Merkel, he indicated he has been nicknamed "Mr. Dumsor" due to the power crisis, where he attributed it to Nigeria for not supplying gas as required to Ghana through the West Africa Gas Pipeline.

I won't manage 'dumsor'; I will fix it - Mahama reiterates

President John Mahama in his traditional Ghanaian smock apparel was met with traditional music, and a parade held in his honor.

He was then welcomed to the House by the Speaker of Parliament as he entered to deliver his third state of the nation address as the Constitution demands in Article 67.

The President thanked God and Ghanaians for his third year in the seat of Government. He then talked about Ghana's sixth March anniversary which will be observed next week.

The President said the country was confronted with many hills, and one of such is the power crisis the country was facing. He expressed concern about the severe effects of the energy shortfall and businesses and industries.

He noted that this situation has occurred in many times in the country's history.Unlike in the past when the problem was managed, President Mahama says he will fix it.

"I John Dramani Mahama will fix this energy challenge," he said.

The President spent time to also outline the expansion of all power generation sources to meet the country growing electricity demand.

He also stressed for a restructuring of the country's power sector to ensure more efficiency particular in the areas of hydro and thermal.

Under the new Millennium Challenge Compact, there is an opportunity to transform the Electricity Company of Ghana into a more reliable service provider.

As an immediate measure, the President reiterated the government's plan which is on course to bring in emergency power plants. These plants will bring in additional 1,000 megawatts of power.

The President said he will hold the Power Minister accountable on his promise to end the power crisis by the end of the year. The President also spoke about efforts to increase Ghana's supply to about 300million standard cubic feet meters per day.

On Solar energy, the President announced plans were on course to make solar available for small-scale businesses and also make it available for residential apartments who wish to have it. He says over 200,000 rooftop solar panels will be installed as part of the project.

The President also reiterated the Energy Commission's call for a positive attitude towards energy conservation. The President said saving energy was also important for the country.

On the economy, the President noted that a document for the transformation of the country's economy is available.

On Education, he reiterated efforts being made towards quality education. He mentioned the BECE r-sit policy as one of the means to improve basic education and also make education more accessible to all who wish to seek higher education. He was particularly excited about a 46-year-old man who found it prudent to sit for the exams.

For the year 2015 alone, the President announced the commencement of the free distribution of 10,000 sandals for some pupils in the basic schools, 6 million textbooks, and 500,000 pieces of school uniforms, and 15 million textbooks amongst others.

He also announced plans to improve science education at all levels of education. He says gender-parity also remains a concern to Government since many girls were not in school. He thus announced some freebies such as sandals, books, uniforms and others for girls to encourage them to be in school.

The President also noted that as part of efforts towards quality education, the shift system at the basic level was gradually being eliminated to improve quality education.

The President noted that 73 community-based senior high schools were under construction as part of improving access to education. He added that construction for 50 more of those schools will kick start this year.

He reiterated the beginning of the progressive free SHS education this year. He said the first phase was going to benefit 367,000 students who were not going to pay any fees. He noted that funding has been approved by Parliament in the 2015 budget.

He also noted that secondary school enrollment has increased by about ten percent, whiles the tertiary institutions have also seen considerable increase. The President also noted that Government's plans to establish more universities was on course.

He however admitted a lot more was still needed to be done to improve the achievements chalked in education.

He noted that work on the conversion of polytechnics into technical university status was on course.

Accra residents expectations from Mahama about dumsor

Accra residents expectations from Mahama about dumsor

Accra residents expectations from Mahama about dumsor

Residents of Accra asked President Mahama to make reasonable measures that he has outlined to address the dumsor  in the State of Nation Address that he will present on Thursday, February to Parliament.
They also asked him to focus on health, education and employment.
Yesterday the newspaper Daily Graphic randomly interviewed public to get their opinion about the national issue that they expect from President John Mahama to address in the parliament.
TEWU’s general secretary of the Ghana Union Congress TUC, Mr Ralph Apaaye said that the issues and concerns that are need to be full attention, the President is already fully aware of them.
Foremost and urgent is dumsor among all the issues that are basically the national concerns.
He also said that the issues are confronting the health education sector and health as a matter of urgency.
He said that if other power generation options like wind, solar and tidal waves were discovered, the dumsor may be end soon, adding that these options are also cheaper to operate and environment friendly.
Mr. Richmond Frimpong, a self employed said that the President must focus to end the power crisis.
Mr Victor Amamoo, An official of the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG described the hop that the president’s address would probably deal with the dumsor be quickly resolved.
He said that due to power crisis businesses are running down and there government must find urgent interventions to make the situation stable.
A student, Ms Emmanuella Etorna said that the most pressing issue for her is power crisis that has termed “dumsor”.
She added that it has become very serious problem for her, as it has badly affected her studies and performance in school.

A taxi driver said that government must do something to low the fuel prices since the crude oil price has been reduced in the international market.

A trader at the Kaneshie Market, Ms Akua Oforiwaa said that President must focus on strengthen the economic condition of the country.
Mr Edmund Acquaye, the Public Relations Officer of CLOGSAG was with the view of issue concerning labor and specially pensions.

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• Mahama not unaware of Dumsor – Koku Anyidoho by Emmy Petersson   The Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Koku Anyidoho has supported the President John Mahama’s contribution to solve the crisis 'dumsor', power outage. NPP conducting the upcoming scheduled demonstration for February 18, 2015, commented while he was over there. While speaking to the upcoming protest Anyidoho said that he…
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• Mahama Not Blamed For Dumsor – Samuel George by Mark Fordhum Member of Ghana Government Communications Team Samuel George said that Mahama should not be blamed for Dumsor. He also apologized for the electricity crisis the citizens are facing but he said it is not a fault of Mahama. The power shortage that is undergoing has no justification to make and…

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