By Alusine Fullah & Hassan Osman Kargbo

In 2018, President Bio took over power with a clear mission to fix the economy left by the previous administration and deliver on their commitments to the people of Sierra Leone. Looking at all the manifestos (2018 and 2023), there is a gamut of promises to the people of this country. All the two manifestos, they are theorised that the lives of Sierra Leoneans will be okay. However, do a comparative analysis between what they promised on their manifestos and what is practically on the ground is a complete mismatch.

At present, there is mountainous crisis hanging profoundly on the lives of Sierra Leone: blackout. Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, and other cities have been plunged into darkness for weeks, due to the non-payment of electricity bills to the power providers. It has severely disrupted daily life, with operations disrupted in major hospitals. Karpowership, the Turkish ship which supplies most of Freetown’s power, has virtually switched off the lights over an unpaid bill of about $48m (£38m), despite repeated assurances by the finance minister to settle the debt.

In their 2023 General Elections manifesto of the New Direction it was well inked that the people of this country will enjoy sustainable energy. In line with that, the 2023 manifesto states:

We will expand our energy infrastructure with the following commitments: Power Goals ; Increase installed energy generation capacity from 160 MW to 180 MW ; Increase renewable energy generation from 35% to 80%; Complete district capital electrification in all 16 locations;  Expand access to electricity to households from 31% to 80%; Increase electricity generation per capita from 55 Kwh to 250Kwh;  Increase the length of electricity transmission lines from 740 km to 2000km;  Reduce EDSA deficit from 60% to 0% ; Reduce Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection Losses (ATC&C) from 40% to 15%.

Expand private sector intervention in EDSA to reduce cost of Government; Transform EGTC, including increasing the role of private sector to focus on Transmission and Dispatch Management; Provide standby security power to the Freetown Network; Establish a Full Collection Account to increase accountability and transparency in the sector; Establish a Rural Energy Directorate to oversee access expansion in all provincial HQ. towns and rural areas; Set Up Renewable Energy Fund as an instrument for private, Donor Partner and government funds to be used for project development grants and tariff support

Complete the Bekonghor Hydro Project, a 160MW Hydropower Electrical Plant (HEPP); Undertake a large-scale solar installation of 150 MW to complement RESPITE; Complete the Western Area Generation Project IPP – 128 MW; Expand Bumbuna to add 50MW by adding two turbines; Upgrade Goma Hydro Dam to increase generation from 6 MW to 9MW; Complete Betmai Hydro to produce 27MW; Expand the existing 5MW installation to 20MW in Baoma

Apart the 2023 manifesto, the 2023 Financial Year Budget Speech for the year 2024 made it vivid to the people of this country that the New Direction will make sober commitment to restore sustainable energy. It states:

In the energy sector, Government will:  complete the electrification of the seven district towns; ii. 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.

But guess what, of all those promises, blackout is biting deep. “We have gone for nine days without a flash of light in my house,” Sierra Leoneans bitterly complained.

It’s almost a month now since the people of Sierra Leone especially the capital City had been facing incessant power cut and up till now the issue remain unsettled. The hustle and bustle of darkness in not only the capital but the country as a whole keeps on making waves on social media and other media platforms in the country. The current power outreach in the country has left lots of citizens into a delay and some are asking whether the government is really serious in bringing power back to the people. Because, the Head of Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) was on record saying that EDSA don’t have all what it takes to give the people of Freetown electricity at once, that show that they don’t have the pre-requisite to handle electricity situation in the country. It’s not a secret that a lot of homes depend on electricity to survive and as it stands now there’s no hope for electricity for the people.

The problem of electricity is still visible in the country, because we saw a notice from the Turkish Karpowership informing the country’s Chief Minister David Sengeh for their intention to suspend the service of the Karpowership if they aren’t paid by April this year. The Karpowership had requested that the government of Sierra Leone pay the sum of US$27,102,555 which corresponds to the overdue amount for their invoices from 2022-2023. If a whole government cannot afford to pay what they owe to the Karpowership, what the future holds for the citizens of this nation? This is one of the reasons people are saying that the government is not serious to tackle the issue of electricity. The people are suffering in silence and our leaders are busy enjoying luxuries. The blackout situation is seriously going out of hands and the government remain reticent towards the issue.

The people are totally neglected and they don’t even cares about the repercussions of this act of theirs. Business people grind to a halt, their productivity crippled by the absence of electricity. Homes are plunged into darkness, rendering essential appliances useless and leaving families to grapple with the consequences—spoiled food, disrupted routines, and mounting frustration to the people. All these acts are not good for any Nation development.

In the wake of this crisis, it becomes evident that the interests of the people have been sacrificed. It seems like there’s no caring or they don’t consider the welfare of the citizens because it’s not a secret that they don’t care for the citizens of the country. The Minister of Finance, entrusted with the stewardship of the nation’s finances, has failed in his duty to prioritize the needs of the citizens over petty squabbles and partisan agendas.

As the darkness lingers in the country, questions loom large over the corridors of power: Who will answer for this gross dereliction of duty? Who will be held responsible for the suffering inflicted upon the people of Freetown? And all these questions need urgent answers, but it seems like no one is ready to answer to those questions and things remains the same.

In all of these, citizens keep on calling on the government to do the needful so that electricity could be a thing of the past. The past government did their best to tackle power outreach and they almost succeeded but this current dispensation is still fighting on how to solve electricity problems. However, the citizens of Freetown refuse to be silenced, demanding answers and accountability from those who have betrayed their trust. But, even when they shared their views darkness remains a fixed situation in the capital City.