President John Dramani Mahama has commended the Volta River Authority (VRA) for its swift response to the recent fire outbreak at the Akosombo control room, describing the incident as an opportunity to modernise the facility.
Speaking during a visit to the Akosombo Dam on April 30, Mahama expressed concern over the impact of the fire but praised engineers and technical staff for quickly restoring parts of the power generation system.
“We heard about the sad event — the fire outbreak in your control room — and of course, Ghanaians have felt the impact,” he said, noting that the authority’s response demonstrated strong institutional capacity.
“I’m not surprised because VRA has some of the best human resources you can get anywhere. When I heard they were going to find a way of bringing it back, I was not surprised,” he added.
The President described the incident as an unfortunate but potentially transformative moment, given the age of the facility, which dates back to 1964.
“This is an act of God because who would have expected that a control room that has been there since 1964 would experience this kind of fire?” he said.
Mahama said the situation presents an opportunity to upgrade critical infrastructure at the plant.
“They say adversity is an opportunity. Now that this has happened, it allows us to replace it with a more modern control room that will serve this plant for generations to come,” he noted.
He disclosed that progress has already been made in restoring operations, with four turbines back online and efforts underway to bring the remaining units into service.
“I am told more good news will follow soon,” he said.
The President commended VRA staff and their partners for their efforts and assured them of continued government support, noting that the authority remains central to Ghana’s energy sector alongside the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo).
“VRA will continue to be one of the foremost institutions, together with GRIDCo, and government will continue to support you,” he said.
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