Ghana is at breaking point – Minority Chief Whip demands emergency action from Mahama

Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh has issued a strong warning over what he describes as worsening national crises confronting Ghana, calling on President John Dramani Mahama to take urgent action to address challenges in the energy sector, cocoa industry, food distribution system and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In an open letter addressed to the President on Wednesday, the Nsawam-Adoagyiri lawmaker argued that the country was reaching a critical stage where governance failures were placing increasing hardship on citizens and businesses.

“The country is at a point where the increasing involvement of the public in governance issues ought to be recognised as an advantage,” Mr. Annoh-Dompreh stated in the letter.

The Minority Chief Whip expressed serious concern over the return of persistent nationwide power outages, commonly referred to as “dumsor,” describing the situation as economically damaging and socially disruptive.

According to him, the recurring electricity interruptions are crippling businesses, reducing productivity and threatening livelihoods across multiple sectors of the economy.

“Dumsor is not just a technical fault; it is a policy failure that is bleeding jobs and hope,” he stressed.

Mr. Annoh-Dompreh further criticised the government over rising fuel prices despite the introduction of the GHS1 fuel levy, arguing that the current economic measures contradict the administration’s promises to ease the burden on citizens.

“This is not governance; it is a contradiction,” he stated.

To address the ongoing energy crisis, he urged government to suspend the fuel levy, publish a comprehensive audit of the energy sector and immediately engage Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and gas suppliers to restore full electricity generation capacity.

He also proposed major structural reforms within the power distribution sector, including a merger between the Electricity Company of Ghana and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company, as well as the establishment of an Independent Power Market Administrator to improve efficiency and accountability.

Turning to the cocoa sector, Mr. Annoh-Dompreh warned that recent reductions in cocoa producer prices were worsening conditions for farmers already struggling with rising production costs, inflation and climate-related challenges.

He cautioned that continued dissatisfaction among cocoa farmers could negatively affect national cocoa production, encourage cross-border smuggling and weaken confidence in government support systems.

“Sustained farmer disaffection threatens productivity, encourages smuggling across borders, and undermines confidence in the state’s commitment to equitable burden-sharing during economic adjustment,” he warned.

The Minority Chief Whip therefore called on President Mahama to introduce immediate income-support interventions to cushion cocoa farmers and protect the country’s cocoa industry.

Mr. Annoh-Dompreh also raised concerns about what he described as an emerging institutional crisis within the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to him, more than 3,000 contract staff were allegedly recruited without the required financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance and before the agency had a fully constituted governing board.

He further claimed that some employees experienced substantial salary reductions after accepting their employment offers, a development he described as alarming and damaging to public confidence.

“The message being sent is terrifying, that in Ghana, a signed employment contract is not worth the paper it is written on,” he said.

The lawmaker warned that the situation could weaken environmental governance, undermine mining oversight, affect climate finance readiness and reduce investor confidence in Ghana’s regulatory institutions.

On food security and agriculture, Mr. Annoh-Dompreh criticised what he described as inefficiencies within Ghana’s food distribution system, noting that while farmers recorded bumper harvests, many communities still lacked reliable market access and schools continued to experience food shortages.

“Our farmers did their part to deliver bumper harvest last year. But today, their produce rots because there are no markets,” he lamented.

He proposed the introduction of an emergency produce purchasing programme, expanded storage infrastructure and urgent reforms to strengthen supply chains for Senior High Schools and feeding programmes.

Mr. Annoh-Dompreh concluded by cautioning that failure to address these warning signs could have serious consequences for Ghana’s long-term national development and economic stability.

“Overlooking the warning signs of the issues raised causes major setbacks in our national development,” he added.