Audio By Carbonatix Executive Director of the African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Ben Boakye, has described the fire outbreak at the Ghana Grid Company Limited substation near Akosombo as a preventable incident, blaming what he says is long-standing negligence and weak accountability within Ghana’s power sector. Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, May 2, he said the incident should never have occurred, given the age and importance of the infrastructure, which he noted dates back to the 1960s. “Thanks to those who worked on GRIDCo to bring Akosombo back on stream. But I have been grieving about that situation since last week. It never should have happened,” he said. His comments follow a fire outbreak on Thursday, April 23, which gutted part of the Akosombo substation switchyard, disrupting transmission and affecting a key section of the country’s power infrastructure. Mr Boakye explained that while generation assets such as turbines have seen upgrades, equal attention has not been paid to critical transmission infrastructure such as the switchyard that distributes power to homes. “You have a switchyard and control systems built in the 60s. We have retrofitted turbines, but we did not pay attention to the switchyard that carries the load to our homes,” he stated. According to him, proper maintenance, safety upgrades, and modern fire prevention systems were necessary but not adequately implemented. He contrasted the Akosombo facility with newer substations built with advanced safety systems such as thermal cameras, automated shutdown mechanisms, and fire suppression technology. “If you look at new substations like Pokuase and Kasoa, they have modern safety systems. These are not expensive things,” he said. “Yet we are relying on basic manual response instead of automated protection.” Mr Boakye further criticised what he described as weak accountability in the energy sector, arguing that institutional failures have long-term financial consequences for the country. “Accountability is so defective in the energy sector. Basic things don’t get done, and when they don’t get done, they cost all of us billions of dollars,” he said. DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited. Tags: Akosombo substaion fire Ben Boakye DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited. Related to this story Fuel price cuts won’t translate instantly – ACEP boss explains why Fuel price cut: Businesses won’t rush to cut prices – ACEP exposes profit-driven delay ACEP urges incentives for private fuel storage as prices surge in Ghana Gov’t debt owed IPPs to be reduced by 20% to US$1.2bn – Ben Boakye reveals ‘No honeymoon for Mahama as Ghana faces energy and economic turmoil’, says Ben Boakye ‘Energy sector faces ‘systematic decimation,’ needs urgent fix’ – ACEP’s Ben Boakye to Mahama Every service or item procured by ECG is higher than the normal shelf price – Ben Boakye Benjamin Boakye slams politicisation of energy sector issues and ECG’s inefficiencies Gov’t should not be involved in buying fuel – Ben Boakye New Pricing Guidelines issued by NPA not in the interest of consumers – ACEP Latest Stories Power stability has improved since 2025 compared to 2024 – Jinapor2 minutes Akosombo substation fire should never have happened – Ben Boakye5 minutes Savannah region: Yazori Chief issues election boycott threat over underdevelopment concerns11 minutes Backbone of economy in pain – Minority warns of collapse in worker morale14 minutes Ghana Jazz Orchestra clocks in on International Jazz Day21 minutes M-CARE’s first steering committee meeting targets chronic and mental health care integration in Ghana21 minutes Bank of Ghana in 2025: Financially impaired but operationally resilient30 minutes Fixing Akosombo does not end dumsor; energy crisis predates incident — Miracles Aboagye30 minutes NAIMOS dawn operation leads to arrest of 49 suspected illegal miners after ambush on taskforce in Ahanta West33 minutes Energy sector woes stem from political interference, not leadership failure — Kofi Bentil52 minutes Communication around power outages has been ‘insincere’— Kofi Bentil55 minutes President Mahama breaks ground for modern 24-hour market in Asesewa2 hours Video: Daniel Kofi-Kyereh ranks Andre Ayew above Essien and Appiah in blind ranking game2 hours Mensa Otabil launches new book, ‘Leading the Church’, emphasizes governance and leadership transition3 hours Gov’t considers absorbing Western Rail Line reconstruction under Big Push Programme5 hours