Deputy Energy Minister Richard Gyan Mensah has said he removed the generator from his home so he could live under the same power conditions as many Ghanaians.
In an interview on PM Express with Evans Mensah, he explained that the decision was intentional and meant to give him a direct sense of the challenges people face during outages.
He noted that electricity demand rose sharply at the start of the year, placing pressure on the system. According to him, this increase led to strain on distribution infrastructure, with several transformers becoming overloaded in some areas.
He said investigations identified these overloaded transformers as a key cause of outages in a number of communities. He added that response teams have generally acted quickly when faults are reported.
Beyond the technical issues, he said his decision was driven by a need to understand the situation personally. He explained that when power goes off in his area, he follows up with officials, sometimes by phone or message, and monitors how quickly supply is restored.
When asked directly, he confirmed that he now lives without backup power, even during outages. He admitted that the arrangement has been difficult at home, especially for his family.
Despite this, he said the experience has given him a clearer view of public expectations. In his words, many people judge leadership by how reliable their electricity supply is. Living without a generator, he said, has made the issue more real to him.
He added that without such an experience, the problem can feel distant. Now, when there is an outage, he faces the same inconvenience as others.
The minister also said he has chosen not to install solar power, explaining that doing so would separate his experience from that of many households that cannot afford such options.
He recalled a recent outage that lasted several hours while he was at home with his children. During that time, he stayed in touch with officials to understand the cause and progress toward restoration.
He described the decision as temporary, adding that he will restore his generator once he is satisfied that power supply has improved for the wider population.
