Fix Energy Crisis Now! �Ghanaians React To 2015 Budget

Ghanaians have charged the Mahama administration to work with a sense of urgency to address the current energy crisis. Speaking to Today after the presentation of the 2015 Budget statement in Parliament yesterday, they stressed that what the Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Mr. Seth Terkper, said on how government intends to address the energy crisis was not adequate enough to end the problem. According to the respondents, government must �drastically� implement immediate measures to end the energy crisis and bring relief to Ghanaians and businesses. They did not however, understand what the finance minister meant when he said �government will �holistically� address challenges bedevilling the country�s energy sector�. Reacting to government�s solutions to the energy crisis, auto parts dealer, Mr. Yaw Mensah, said Ghanaians have ran out of patience on the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC�s) inability to find a lasting solution to the energy crisis. �What we need is action that will bring an end to the current �dumsor dumsor.� The truth of the matter is that the current energy crisis is killing businesses, and if something drastic is not done about the situation, Ghana�s economy will crumble,� Mr. Mensah warned. A business man at the Central Business District of Accra, Mr. Ernest Agyei, had this to tell Today: �The current administration must stop the politics and give us adequate power.� Earlier in an interview with Today on condition of anonymity, some financial analysts described the government�s plan to end the energy problem as a �joke� saying �what Ghanaians need is quality and constant supply of energy and not increasing power generation� According to them, Ghanaians were expecting pragmatic measures from government that could bring an end to the energy problem. They noted that what the NDC government was interested in was to give assurances always without solving national problem. The 2015 budget, in the estimation of the financial experts, should have dwelled on how government intends to improve the livelihood of Ghanaians by ensuring that there is always power for work. �How can you say the private sector is an engine of growth when in an actual fact, private businesses are folding up as a result of unstable power supply� they opined. Meanwhile, some members of the opposition parties including the Progressive People�s Party (PPP) have called on Ghanaians to reject the NDC in 2016. Speaking to Today, they noted that the NDC government has no clue on how to solve the energy problem hence the finance minister�s failure to proffer concrete solutions to the problem. The members of the opposition parties said, they knew government did not have any solution to the problem and therefore were not surprised that the finance minister could not offer concrete solutions to the problem. According to them, the solution to the problem was not far-fetched and they expected government to solve the problem. They accused the government of being insensitive to the plight of Ghanaians and stressed that the only way they [Ghanaians] could express their disquiet was to vote the NDC out in 2016. � If you want the government to know that it has failed, just kick it out from office and that it will learn its lesson next time when it gets power� the opposition parties members intimated.