Joyce Bawah Mogtari, spokesperson for the John Mahama campaign team, has admitted that the energy crisis (dumsor) significantly played a role in the National Democratic Congress' (NDC) loss in the 2016 general elections.In an interview with Channel One TV on Monday, July 8, Joyce Bawah Mogtari clarified that Mahama’s strategy during the energy crisis prioritized finding lasting solutions rather than leveraging it for political advantage.

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She noted the formidable challenge the administration faced in swiftly resolving the persistent power outages, despite their sincere efforts.Bawah Mogtari highlighted the widespread frustration and discontent among Ghanaians caused by 'Dumsor,' emphasizing its significant impact.

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Acknowledging the administration's shortcomings in addressing the issue adequately, she attributed public dissatisfaction and electoral consequences to these challenges for the NDC.Reflecting on lessons learned, Bawah Mogtari underscored Mahama’s commitment to effectively tackling the energy crisis should he have the opportunity to lead again.

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She expressed confidence that Mahama’s leadership would continue to prioritize substantive solutions over political exploitation.“I believe strongly and maybe because I’m very close to the campaign, that in 2016, one of our biggest misfortunes was the fact that we had these crippling power outages."“I mean look, the whole of Ghana suffered enormously from those outages and people were up in arms.

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Yes, maybe we could even have offered solutions in a much quicker time, but it wasn’t that easy to do."“This was a country that over the years depended largely on Akosombo Dam, we used to have crawlers telling us about the water levels, and then the rain patterns changed, and then climate issues happened. And somehow, it threw us completely overboard.

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Look, it was not in Mr Mahama’s interest for that whole protracted power outage to have actually occurred, but it happened,” she said.

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