By Dadson A. Musa

For every country in the world to attain investment and growth there is bound to be sustained electricity supply. In the digital age of technology in this 21st century, no development can go on without electricity. So, after the eleven years of devastation and setback, Sierra Leone has been on the trajectory to improving electricity supply in the capital city and across the country. The capital city, Freetown where all government ministries, departments and agencies are headquartered is being prioritized. Just after the war, Freetown, our capital city was classed as the darkest city in Africa. Then, we used to have electricity once every week, once every two weeks or once every month as the case may be or depending on where one stayed. Since the early 2000 it has been improving but very slowly. By 2007, only 15% of the entire country enjoyed electricity which was in the capital Freetown and the provincial headquarter towns of Bo, Kenema and Makeni. The rest of the country had lived without enjoying power supply from the national grid and had to rely on kerosene lamps, dry cell- powered lights and firewood for energy supply.

In the 1970s the Bumbuna Hydro- Electric dam project was started so that 50 megawatts of clean energy can be provided for the capital, Freetown. But then the population of Freetown was way below one million. As the city has expanded and the population grown exponentially so has the demand for electricity grown. So in the second phase of Bumbuna, with funds from UNDP it was scheduled to provide 400 megawatts to meet the growing demand. This was to supply energy not only in Sierra Leone but other West African countries. ADDAX Bio-Energy and Karp ownership were contracted to improve the energy supply in the country. And in a bid to improve the energy supply then, EDSA (Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority) paid $1, 690,000(one million, six hundred and ninety United States dollars) to Aggreko just to improve the energy supply in the city alone. And of recent, as the demand has overgrown, the World Bank has done heavy injection of cash to salvage the situation.

Government of Sierra Leone is cash- strapped at the moment as the priority areas have been education and Feed Salone in the agriculture sector and it needs support in that direction as electricity has economic advantages and benefits. Clean forms of energy like solar had been explored to reduce the reliance on fuel which is detrimental to our health and the environment. Most Chiefdoms across Sierra Leone now have solar lights which is sponsored in large part by DIFID. This has helped improve energy accessibility from 15% to a little over 45% across the country. And Bo, Kenema and Makeni which are provincial headquarter towns have seen improvement in electricity supply. Ing. Seiya, former regional manager of EDSA, south- east told this medium that ” with improved electricity some customers are well pleased with the energy ministry as their businesses are running well now, while others are finding it hard to meet cost.” So there is attempt by members of the public to illegally connect to the grid. In addition to other alternative forms of energy, agreements have been made to tap wind energy which is going to be piloted in Bonthe island. The electricity provided now is in categories; there is the industrial level supply for factories and companies and then the one for residential areas. The costs vary but what is bemusing is the fact that post -paid meters have been totally removed and now we have pre- paid meters. The Director General of EDSA, Joe Lahai Sormana in a press conference revealed that ” government is subsidizing electricity supply to ease the burden on citizens by some percentage” and admitted electricity theft which is why they are sometimes cash- strapped. And said that they buy electricity from EGTC (Electricity Generation and Transmission Company) at 21 U. S cent and sell at 18 U.S cents so government covers the difference for citizens. He also admitted that some citizens are engaging in electricity theft which is ” stifling the revenue generation of the authority.” The national PRO of EDSA, Sahr Nepor when asked if electricity theft is possible without the connivance of workers at EDSA tried to play it down. And went on that ” if EDSA workers are found culpable of being complicit in electricity theft they are dismissed with immediate effect without benefit and charged to court.” He said that there are instances when this has happened.

“It is going to be difficult for Sierra Leone to attract investors with this kind of power supply,” one senior citizen intimated this medium. The president, Dr. Julius Maada Bio has kept Alhaji Kanja Sesay as Minister of Energy since 2018, at the inception of his first term, meaning he is satisfied with his performance. And Kanja Sesay remains the only minister who has not been changed or reshuffled. The president and his wife have gone to the length of publicly defending his work and record as energy minister to the surprise of many Sierra Leoneans. To get this energy issue right and attract investors, government needs to depoliticize the administration both at the ministry level and within the EDSA.  As professionalism and efficiency are key in running an energy sector that is key in turning the economy around for our country. Some people have gone to the point of suggesting that EDSA be privatized to achieve sustained electricity supply. The question that may come to mind is, do we have capable local energy firms to run it without going out of country which is in breach of local content policy? The answer is an affirmative, yes! CEMMAT group Ltd., a local engineering firm has done it before and made lots of improvement in electricity supply even when conditions under which they were working were far from favourable unlike now. For future sustainability, our local energy firms must be tapped into to avoid government spending too much and to help build the capacity of local firms so that capital flight is also avoided. CEMMAT group Ltd. has been helping a major mining company in Sierra Leone, Sierra Rutile Ltd. to keep their energy supply intact.  Government must also make sure that whatever help World Bank or UNDP, etc may be giving to the energy sector it must be aligned with giving chance to and empower our local firms and engineers.

There is need for drastic reforms in the energy sector, from doing away with obsolete machines, poles, cables, meters, etc to making sure when it comes to human resource, square pegs are not put in round holes. Once that happens, we are bound to see marked improvement in electricity supply. Also system review is needed in the energy sector as corruption is still rife in the sector which stifling efficiency. Few months again in Bo and Kenema, it was discovered that major businesses were dodging payment of the right bills through meter tampering. Whatever action they may have taken against those found wanting remains to be seen. If anything, government should be generating revenue through EDSA if the rampant illegal connections stop and heavy fines and penalties are imposed on culprits.

Copy right –Printed in the Expo Magazine on Monday, April 19th, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)