Electricity supply has been restored to the country hours after the Government has paid $17 million in a bid to reduce its $ 48 million debts to the Turkish Karpowership on Friday.
The said money was disbursed by the Ministry of Finance to address the constant power outage in the country, including a disbursement of $ 1.5m to the Transco-CSLG, which supplies electricity to the Southern and Eastern province from Ivory Coast.
The restoration of electricity and the part-payment of the country’s debts, all came hours after the country’s long-serving Energy Minister, Alhaji Kanja Sesay, tendered his resignation to the President, being unable to exonerate himself from the country’s blackout crisis.
The main reasons for his abrupt resignation is unclear, but he has been one of the President’s trusted men, since his appointment in 2018.
It was during his first term in office, that he signed the contract with the Turkish Karpowership , asserting that he was saving the government $ 18 million, and that the negotiations were in the interest of the country.
In a short statement, the Karpowership confirmed that they have restored power supply to the country “following a brief period of production.”
However, Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio, has decided to ‘directly supervise the Ministry of Energy’, assisted by the Deputy Minister one, Dr. Eldred Tunde Taylor and Deputy Minister two Edmond Nonie hours after Sesay’s resignation.
When the Turkish Karpowership ceased its fully supply of electricity, the country was plunged into darkness for close to one week, effecting daily lives and businesses across the country.
The karpowership demanded for a payment of their debts, thus reducing from 60 megawatts to 6 megawatts.
The Capital city, Freetown, heavily relies on Turkish Karpowership to supply electricity, and the power outage caused growing concerns, followed by the tragic death of one infant at one of the government hospitals due to electric-fluctuations.
