Minority Chief Whip Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh has called on President John Dramani Mahama to urgently intervene in what he described as worsening national challenges affecting Ghana’s energy sector, cocoa industry, food security system and environmental governance.
In a detailed open letter to the President, Mr Annoh-Dompreh who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsawam-Adoagyiri expressed concern over what he termed growing institutional failures and policy misalignment across critical sectors of the economy.
According to him, Ghana is at a critical stage where public participation in governance should be seen as an opportunity to improve the administration of the country and address the hardships facing ordinary citizens.
Concerns over return of ‘Dumsor’
A major concern raised in the letter was the resurgence of persistent power outages, popularly known as “dumsor.”
Mr Annoh-Dompreh argued that despite previous assurances that the power crisis had been resolved, homes, businesses and public institutions continue to suffer from frequent outages which are affecting productivity and livelihoods.
He stated that small businesses including cold store operators, restaurants, salons and manufacturers are struggling to survive due to unreliable electricity supply and rising fuel costs.
The Minority Chief Whip also criticised the government’s decision to introduce a GH¢1 fuel levy intended to support the energy sector, arguing that fuel prices have continued to rise while power cuts persist.
“This is not governance; it is a contradiction,” he stated.
Mr Annoh-Dompreh further pointed out that the current energy challenges point to deeper structural failures within the sector, including mounting debts, payment arrears owed to Independent Power Producers (IPPs), institutional fragmentation and weak regulatory coordination among agencies such as ECG, GRIDCo and VRA.
Recommendation
As part of his recommendations, the Minority Chief Whip urged President Mahama to consider merging ECG and NEDCo into a single distribution company, establish an Independent Power Market Administrator and suspend the GH¢1 fuel levy while conducting a financial audit of the energy sector.
Cocoa farmers facing economic hardship
The Minority Chief Whip also raised concerns over the recent reduction in cocoa producer prices, saying the adjustment is worsening conditions for cocoa farmers already dealing with high production costs and climate-related challenges.
According to him, the reduction threatens farmer livelihoods, weakens incentives for production and could encourage cocoa smuggling across Ghana’s borders.
He argued that cocoa remains a major source of foreign exchange and rural employment, warning that prolonged dissatisfaction among cocoa farmers could undermine the long-term sustainability of the sector.
Mr Annoh-Dompreh therefore called on the President to institute income-support interventions to cushion cocoa farmers from the effects of the producer-price adjustment.
EPA recruitment crisis raises governance questions
Another critical issue highlighted in the letter was what the Minority Chief Whip described as an emerging institutional crisis at the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
According to Mr Annoh-Dompreh, more than 3,000 contract staff were reportedly recruited by the EPA without the required financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance and before the authority had a properly constituted governing board.
According to him, the situation has resulted in financial strain, internal dissatisfaction and operational instability at the environmental regulator.
The Minority Chief Whip further alleged that some recruits were placed on salary levels higher than existing senior officers, while others were recruited into senior positions without following established public service procedures.
He warned that the crisis could negatively affect environmental permitting, mining oversight, climate finance readiness and investor confidence in Ghana’s environmental governance system.
Accordingly, Mr Annoh-Dompreh has appealed to the President to immediately order an administrative and financial review of the EPA recruitment exercise and ensure compliance with public service recruitment standards.
Food glut and school feeding challenges
The letter also highlighted what the Minority described as a troubling contradiction in Ghana’s food system, where farmers are recording bumper harvests while schools continue to experience food shortages.
Mr Annoh-Dompreh noted that farmers producing maize, yam, beans and tomatoes are unable to find buyers for their produce, leading to heavy losses at the farmgate level.
At the same time, several Senior High Schools are struggling with shortages of essential food items.
He blamed the situation on weak coordination between storage, procurement and distribution systems involving the National Food Buffer Stock Company and related agencies.
“Our farmers did their part to deliver bumper harvests last year. But today, their produce rots because there are no markets,” he stated.
The Minority Chief Whip called for urgent administrative reforms, including the establishment of coordinated food storage and distribution systems, emergency produce purchase schemes and stronger support for farmers to prevent future food insecurity.
Call for immediate executive action
Mr Annoh-Dompreh urged President Mahama to take swift action on all the issues raised, warning that failure to address them could worsen economic hardship and undermine national development.
He stressed that the cost of ignoring the warning signs would ultimately fall on ordinary citizens and taxpayers.
“I therefore seek urgent executive attention to these issues and deliberate efforts to carry along the affected citizens in the resolution of the issues,” he stated.
