Resignation Of Sierra Leone’s Energy Minister, Kanja Sesay, Echoes Nationwide Frustration With Electricity Woes

Resignation Of Sierra Leone’s Energy Minister, Kanja Sesay, Echoes Nationwide Frustration With Electricity Woes....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Sierra Leone’s Minister of Energy, Alhadji Kanja Sesay, has submitted his resignation amidst recent disruptions in the country’s electricity supply. The reasons behind Sesay’s departure were not officially disclosed, as per a statement from the president’s office on Friday. The Ministry of Energy did not comment in response to AFP’s request.

In the wake of Sesay’s resignation, President Julius Maada Bio will directly oversee the ministry, with the assistance of two other officials, according to a press release from the presidency. Sesay’s exit coincided with the government’s payment of $18.5 million to Turkish Karpowership and Transco-CLSG group, two power providers to whom Sierra Leone owed a total of $40 million.

It’s uncertain if Sesay’s resignation is directly linked to these payments. Following the announcement of the payments, power was restored in Freetown after a two-month period of outages, media reports said. Karpowership, which has been supplying electricity to Sierra Leone since 2018 through a floating offshore unit, had recently reduced its capacity from 65 megawatts to just five due to payment issues.

“We are pleased to confirm that the electricity supply has returned to full capacity in Freetown,” the Turkish group said in a statement after the latest payment was announced.

In a related development, Tanzania has shut down five hydroelectric stations due to excessive power supply, as per a statement credited to Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa. This decision was made to decrease surplus electricity in the national grid. The primary facility, Mwalimu Nyerere Hydroelectric Station, produced enough electricity to supply major cities like Dar es Salaam, the nation’s commercial center.

This marks the first time Tanzania, grappling with persistent power deficits, has shut down hydroelectric stations due to overproduction. “We have turned off all these stations because the demand is low and the electricity production is too much; we have no allocation now,” an official from the state-run power company, Tanesco, told journalists during the week.

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