By Alusine Fullah

Power cuts in Sierra Leone have prevented the citizens of Freetown from reaching their optimal productivity. Unlike power outages in other West African nations, blackout in Sierra Leone especially in Freetown is becoming unbecoming.  As it stands, this crisis has subjected households and businesses to long periods of darkness. In a country dependent on electricity for day to day activities, the lack of electricity has disrupted many essential services, such as life-saving hospital care, education for its youth, and construction.

Is that too much to ask? The unnecessary blackout in Sierra Leone especially in the capital city has raised lot of questions to the management of electricity supply in this country. This is more so when the Government of Sierra Leone is spending huge amount of money to Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) for efficient, sustainable and effective electricity supply.

In line with that, reading the 2022 Budget speech (for 2023 Financial Year) on the theme: “Addressing the Needs of the Vulnerable in the Context of the Multiple Crises”, Dennis K Vandi, former Minister of Finance spoke about  government commitment in busting the energy sector in Sierra Leone. He said:

“Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, Government is allocating NLe336.0 million from the recurrent budget to the Ministry of Energy as subsidies to EDSA to cover the cost of electricity generated by Karpower and evacuated from the CLSG line. Government is also providing NLe74.6 million from the domestic capital budget, of which NLe45.6 million is for the electrification of seven (7) district towns and NLe24.0 million as counterpart funding to the Rural Electrification Project for communities along the CLSG line. 96. Development partners, including the African Development Bank, World Bank, Indian-Exim Bank, and OFID, will disburse NLe456.6 million for the implementation of donor funded projects in the energy sector.”

Apart from that, on Friday 10^th November, 2023 (reading 2023 Budget for the Financial Year 2024) on the theme: Restoring Macroeconomic Stability while Protecting the Poor and Vulnerable, Minister, Sheku Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura also noted the commitment of the government in the enhancement of a sustainable energy.

“In the energy sector, Government will:  complete the electrification of the seven district towns; commence the rehabilitation of the Dodo Hydro Dam; install solar mini grids in 20 communities nationwide;  extend the transmission and distribution lines to mining companies as part of efforts to improve the financial sustainability of EDSA, while reducing the operating costs of mining activities; install 40 megawatts of containerised solar power under the Regional Emergency Solar Power Intervention Project (RESPITE); and  implement the Transformational Energy Access Project for Sierra Leone with support from the European Union…”

However, what is on the ground, it is very evident that the Government of Sierra Leone and EDSA have not worked the talk. Critical thinkers keeping asking: who is to blame for this massive blackout especially in the capital city.

In the 60s and 70s, Sierra Leone just relied on fire for the luxuries of light, heat, and cooking. Today, Sierra Leoneans take all these luxuries for granted. At the flick of a switch, a push of a button or the turn of a knob, we can have instant power. Electricity plays a huge part in our everyday lives. Whether it is at home, school, the local shopping centre, or our workplace, our daily routines rely heavily on the use of electricity. From the time we wake up in the morning until we hit the pillow at night, our daily life is dependent on electricity. The alarm we have to turn off each morning runs on electricity. The light in our bedroom, the hot shower we take before breakfast, Dad’s electric razor. All these things need electricity in order to function. Even our first meal of the day is heavily dependent on electricity. The fridge that keeps all our food cool and fresh needs electricity to run or the grill that cooks your bacon and eggs also needs power to operate. This power generally (unless you have gas stove) comes from electricity. Electricity not only plays a big part in our daily lives at home, but it is extremely important for all the things that go on in the world around us in our modern life, such as industry that we depend on, communication as in form of radio, television, e-mail, the Internet, etc