Researched by Gifty Danso
News reports by Citinewsroom, myjoyonline and Modern Ghana claimed that the Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, had announced a nationwide power outage scheduled for Sunday, July 13, 2025.
The articles published on July 8, 2025, with headlines “Nationwide ‘dumsor’ expected on July 13 – Energy Minister reveals, Nationwide power disruption expected on July 13 as plants shut down for maintenance,” indicated that the Minister announced the scheduled power outage at a groundbreaking ceremony for the reconstruction of the 161kV Anwomaso to Kumasi transmission line.
The reports sparked commentary on social media and concerns about the purported blackout (here and here), given the infamous 2015-2016 intermittent power crisis that earned the situation the term “dumsor.”
What did the Minister say?
“Let me use this opportunity to inform Ghanaians that this Sunday, ENI will turn off their valve temporarily to increase gas production to about 270 MMScfd (Million Standard Cubic Feet per Day). That is good news. It means that we’re stabilising the power sector.
“Because the plant would be turned off for that short period within the day, for maintenance works, we are likely to experience some interruption of power. Please bear with us, it is for a good purpose, it is to enable us to stabilise the power.
“We’ve done all the analysis, and based on the advice of the engineers, I’m directing that we do not attempt to run those plants on liquid fuels for that short period, because it involves changing nozzles, it involves a lot of work. And so if you’re going to be off for about four to six hours, you don’t risk it, transitioning to liquid fuels only to come back to gas.
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“We are working around the clock to minimise any potential adverse impact during that period. But I want to appeal to Ghanaians to bear with us for that short period. Once the work is done, we shall stabilise the supply of gas, increase the gas supply, and that will improve the delivery of power,” the Minister said on July 8, 2025.
GhanaFact presents how the issues unfolded below;
Ministry of Energy’s clarification
On July 9, a day after the widely reported news, the Ministry of Energy and Green Transitions released a statement announcing a strategic natural gas enhancement by Italian oil giant ENI, which would have the company increase its gas supply from 30 million standard cubic meters per day (MMScfd to 270 MMScfd).
This upgrade was scheduled for Sunday, July 13, 2025, the same day that the reports claimed the would be a nationwide “dumsor.”
“To facilitate this critical upgrade, ENI will temporarily suspend its gas export operations. Consequently, there will be an impact on the availability of gas for power generation during this period,” the statement said.
Between July 10 and 11, 2025, news reports carried headlines indicating the ministry had clarified that there would be “no dumsor” citing the Ministry’s spokesperson, Richmond Rockson, in interviews (here, here, and here).
Nationwide dumsor flyers by opposition party-affiliated accounts
Despite that clarification, GhanaFact observed that accounts on social media affiliated with the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) on July 12 began sharing flyers announcing a planned “national dumsor” on July 13 (see here, here, here, and here).
Fig.1: Screenshot of the widely circulated “nationwide dumsor” quote card
Based on the July 8 news publications, some social media influencers also made posts announcing the supposed nationwide power outage (here and here).
#NoNationwideDumsor hashtag
A counter-hashtag campaign, #NoNationwideDumsor, was launched against the narratives from opposition party accounts about an intended “nationwide dumsor.”
In the wake of the misinformation making the rounds online, the Energy Ministry’s spokesperson and pro-NDC accounts began the campaign on X to counter posts, and flyers amplifying the nationwide blackout.
The hashtag #NoNationwideDumsor began trending on X on Sunday, July 13, 2025 (here, here, here, and here).
Fig.2: Screenshot of the counter-hashtag launched by the Ministry’s PRO
Fig.3: Screenshot of PRO-NDC account promoting the counter-hashtag
Fig.4: Screenshot of NDC activist promoting the counter-hashtag
Was there a power outage at all?
GhanaFact found that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) on July 11, 2025, announced that some parts of the country would experience power outages on Sunday, July 13, 2025.
The areas mentioned were in the Central and Greater Accra Regions (here, here, and here), and not a nationwide outage. This was, however, not connected to the ENI upgrade that stoked the misinformation about the nationwide outage.
Therefore, the claims about the nationwide outage were misleading. It is a case of misinformation because, despite the government’s clarification, coordinated accounts on social media continued to spread the inaccurate information.
ENI confirms successful upgrade works
On July 15, ENI released a statement noting that it had completed the upgrade of its Non-Associated Gas (NAG) system, which was earlier reported to boost processing capacity from 246 to 270 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD). The Ministry of Energy and Green Transitions also issued a statement to this effect (here and here).
GhanaFact further observed that the July 8 publication by Citi Newsroom on the purported nationwide outage had been deleted. Other media outlets that published similar stories still had the publication links live.
