Who is Fooling Who?

By Our Staff Writer

In Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone, the provision of electricity continues to pose significant challenges for residents and businesses.

Despite efforts to improve the infrastructure and expand access to electricity, the city still grapples with persistent issues related to power supply reliability, affordability, and sustainability.

From April to now, it is no secret that residents of the capital city of Freetown have suffered hugely as a result of the power outage. With the bogus claims made by the Government of Sierra Leone by assuring its citizens last month that the electricity supply to the capital city of Freetown has been settled and the management of Karpowership will resume operations immediately, but it is a bit of a white elephant promise as many communities if not all within the capital city of Freetown and beyond are still experiencing power outage.

Even though the management of the Turkish Karpowership has acknowledged receiving the sum of seventeen million dollars as part payment from the Government of Sierra Leone and has promised to resume the supply of electricity to the capital city of Freetown effective immediately, but it appears that little or nothing has changed as many communities within the capital city of Freetown have gone days without electricity supply.

The way and manner things are unfolding, it seems as if there is disconnect between the management of Karpowership and the Government of Sierra Leone with regards the part payment but “Who is fooling who?”

Many citizens who contacted this medium described the issue as ‘over protective diplomacy’ and have called on the Government of Sierra Leone to improve the access to electricity supply to the capital city of Freetown. It is prudent to note that the reliability and availability of electricity supply are crucial for the economic development and quality of life of the residents in Freetown. These concerned citizens have further described the existing power generation and distribution infrastructure as outdated and insufficient to meet the growing demand for electricity in the city, adding by calling for proper management practices within the electricity sector. They further added that, issues like corruption, mismanagement of funds, lack of transparency, and ineffective regulatory frameworks can hamper progress towards sustainable improvements in electricity supply.

These concerned citizens have appealed to His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio to upgrade the supply of electricity to the capital city of Freetown and beyond.