The Ghana Grid Company Ltd. (GRIDCo) has issued an urgent appeal to the public following the destruction of a critical section of the national power transmission infrastructure.
GRIDCo claims that a tall tree felled by illegal chainsaw operators on March 17, 2025, caused the collapse of a transmission tower on the Akwatia–New Obuasi 161kV line—one of the major power corridors supplying electricity to Kumasi and the middle belt of Ghana.
GRIDCo disclosed in a press release on Thursday that the outage, which began at approximately 9:30 a.m. on the day of the incident, has significantly disrupted the quality of power supply to residents in Kumasi and surrounding areas.
According to the release, the illegal felling of trees near high-voltage infrastructure continues to be a major threat to the country’s power delivery system.
“The section of the line being worked on was faulted when illegal chainsaw operators felled a tall tree damaging a critical tower section on the line,” GRIDCo stated.
“This line is one of the key lines that supplies power to Kumasi and portions of the middle belt of Ghana. The outage to the line has significantly affected the quality of supply since the incident to Kumasi and its surroundings.”
The company’s maintenance engineers responded to the incident on the same day.
However, initial assessments revealed that the damage was extensive, requiring significant logistical effort and specialized machinery.
GRIDCo reported that teams had to widen access roads, dismantle the destroyed tower and conductors, and erect a replacement tower entirely.
“Unfortunately, their assessment showed extensive damage such that it required moving heavy duty equipment to widen access to the point of fault, dismantle the damaged tower and conductors, and reconstruct a new tower in its place,” the release explained.
As of Thursday, April 17, GRIDCo confirmed that the reconstruction of the new transmission tower had been completed.
The final stage of the restoration—stringing of new conductors—is currently underway and is expected to be finished by Sunday, April 20. Once completed, full power supply to the affected areas will be restored.
“Our engineers have worked expeditiously around the clock and as of Thursday, April 17, the reconstruction of the new tower has been completed.
“Remaining conductor stringing works are projected to be completed by Sunday, April 20, 2025, for the line to be restored to service,” GRIDCo assured the public.
“GRIDCo wishes to draw attention to the negative effects of illegal chainsaw operators (and sometimes ‘galamsey’ operations) whose activities often damage our electricity transmission infrastructure across the country. We urge the public to assist in curbing these illegal activities to safeguard Ghana’s transmission infrastructure,” the statement warned.
GRIDCo also expressed its regret for the inconvenience caused and offered an apology to residents affected by the power interruptions.
“GRIDCo apologises to the public, especially residents of Kumasi and its surroundings, for the power challenges brought on as a result of the damage to the line,” said Dzifa Bampoh, Manager for Corporate Communications.
–BY Daniel Bampoe
