BudgIT Urges Government to address the increase Electricity Tariff and the Persistence Power Outages in the Country.

BudgIT Sierra Leone is a civic organization that promotes citizen and government engagement in good governance and societal reforms. BudgIT Sierra Leone views the exponential increase in electricity tariff as a great burden on the poor and vulnerable in Sierra Leone thus making worse an already volatile economic situation and calls on the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) to do an adjustment that will ameliorate the electricity burden on the masses that depend on electricity to eke out a living.

As stated in a press conference in early July this year by Dr. Kandeh Yumkellah, the Chairman of the Presidential Initiative for Climate Change, Renewable Energy, and Food Security, EDSA’s current operational system is incapable of resolving the ongoing electricity issues. According to him, the company is incurring a 62% loss in its operations, making it challenging to compensate service providers adequately. He further noted that EDSA is only managing to collect four cents for every ten cents of electricity sold.  This clearly points out the lack of transparency and accountability in the operations of EDSA.

The incessant lack of electricity has the proclivity to hinder trade and investment in the country and subsequently affecting the poor and vulnerable that depends on electricity supply for survival. The entire country lacks a stable and reliable public power supply and domestic demand remains significantly unmet. The current electricity supply is challenged by generation capacity and seasonal variation and is disseminated using inadequate and aging transmission and distribution networks. It is delivered at a very high cost with Sierra Leone having one of the highest electricity tariffs in the sub-region.

Sierra Leone has massive electricity potentials with numerous waterfalls for hydropower and abundant sunlight for solar power generation with an estimated hydro project potential of more than 1000MW, while solar opportunities are above 240 MW. BudgIT Sierra Leone therefore calls on the government to explore and exploit these massive potentials so as to ameliorate the electricity burden on the citizens. BudgIT Sierra Leone further urges EDSA to vigorously adopt transparency and accountability in its operations, curtail the misuse of funds meant for the distribution and supply of electricity and review the recent exponential increase with a view of taken concrete steps that will guarantee the reduction of the tariff and ultimately reduce the extreme burden of payments on the poor and vulnerable.

Signed.

Brima Sesay.

Country Lead, BudgIT Foundation Sierra Leone.