The Minister for Energy and Green Transition John Abdulai Jinapor has asked the CEO of GRIDCo, Mark Baah Awuah, to step aside pending investigations into the fire incident at the Akosombo power control centre.
The fire, which occurred on Thursday, April 23, 2026, has since disrupted power supply across much of the country. As such, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) issued a notice on Sunday, April 26, listing several communities affected.
Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, disclosed in a Facebook post on Sunday that “The Minister for Energy and Green Transition has asked the CEO of GRIDCo to step aside pending investigations into the fire incident at Akosombo’s power control center.”
He also disclosed that there has been a major shake-up in the leadership of ECG in the Ashanti Region, adding that the Minister for Energy and Green Transition will hold a major press briefing at 2:00 p.m. on Monday to address recent developments in electricity distribution and provide updates on the investigations and administrative actions taken so far.
This development comes just three days after the Energy Minister and his deputy visited Akosombo to assess the extent of the damage at the switchyard of the Akosombo substation following the Thursday fire.
The incident has led to a halt in power generation from the Akosombo Hydroelectric Power Station, preventing its power from being evacuated onto the national grid, which has caused outages in several parts of the country.
During the visit, the Minister announced that a seven-member committee, chaired by Ing. Dr. William Amuna, current Board Chairman of ECG, will investigate the fire incident.
According to the Minister, the incident is unusual and requires a thorough probe to uncover its root cause.
“The damage is quite extensive. It’s quite serious. From the briefing I received, there was a significant situation that we need to get to the bottom of,” he said.
He added that the committee is expected to present its findings within two to three weeks. “We expect that within two to three weeks, they should be ready with a report so that we can determine the root cause of this challenge and all the issues surrounding this unfortunate incident,” he concluded.
