When the APC won the 2007 elections the President clearly (and rightly) highlighted energy as one of his priorities. For those who don't know the background to Sierra Leone's power 'issues' - Sierra Leone has been plagued by very sporadic and poor power supply for the best part of the last 30 years hindering our push for investment in the country and sending the cost of living through the roof. Freetown is more or less powered by private generators, noisy and I'm not sure how good it is for the favourite buzz word at the moment - environment.
Anyhow, he appointed a dynamic lady as his Minister of Energy and Power, one Hon. Afsatu Kabbah and barely a month ago a contract was signed with a Belgian firm to provide electricity for Freetown. Critics (mostly, Sierra Leoneans in the Diaspora) had a go at the cost and terms of the contract. In the meantime, most folks in the country where just interested in eradicating this power plague.
The date (now infamous) for the supply of power was set at December 20. It was stated that the machines will arrive on the 18th and this was achieved as the machines where cleared yesterday amid great fanfare. Of course, it was politicised but I guess you can't really blame them for it. Chants like: "Ernest nor dae lie".. "APC on target".. "Goodbye Kabbah tiger, hello Koroma Power" echoed from the crowds. 'Kabbah tiger' are the tiny and affordable 1KVA generators which are scattered all over the city, bringing power to the homes of many. They became popular during President Kabbah's reign.
So, will they make the 20th? It's seems a really tight deadline but we hope so. Last night, a convoy of Government officials went pas at 11pm so someone's working pretty hard. How the SLPP refused to see the political weight of solving this issue beats me, and though not the only reason they were ousted I believe it was a big part. It was a very visible failure.
Having been in Freetown now for a few days, it is clear to me that folks expect a lot from the current government, and know they have the power to kick them out if they don't deliver.
I'm sensing that hope is alive once again and transforming the hope into belief will no doubt be the catalyst for better times in Sierra Leone. Maintaining the momentum will be a challenge for the current government, but come December 20 or even (December 25, allowing them a few days) if the lights are switched on they would have gone some way towards making this happen. Good luck Sierra Leone!
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Added on December 24th:
As it so happens I didn't post the above when I wrote it due to limited Internet among other things. Since the above, the machines where indeed commissioned on December 20th by his excellency President Koroma. There was no big switch to 24hr power but with some of the transmission lines out there it may not be such a bad thing. The launch was symbolic and the President who spoke quite well, was keen to stress how we can achieve the near impossible with some serious hard work.
Since the launch, areas of town have been experiencing increased electricity supply a a gradual pace. In fact today there was even power at my dad's office and I heard him say he couldn't remember the last time they went the whole day without switching on the generator. "Years" he said.
So hope is still very much alive.
5 comments:
good to hear!
hope that all the "we know everything" Expats (experts?)who said the 20/12/07 deadline was a joke will be taught a lesson!
Well done APC. If the light sustains and it is not just a short-sighted political capital, good. The proof of the increased power generation in the country can only be counted in increased productivity a few months, even years down the line. The criticism levelled at the 'sceptics', i find is misplaced as we have been here before with regards to a short- term solution to a chronic problem. It is prudent to temper hope and positive thinking with a pinch of scepticisim. I happen to read some of the critical analysis of the terms of the new agreement, by very able analytical minds on the VSL forum. I may not have agreed with everything I read but the general drift is the stuff democracy is made of. The critical thinking is just another way to approch a problem. We have to question our leaders more. The elctorate should expect more from their elected leaders. After all they are there to do a job of work which is to administer the country and managae it's resources to that end. Paternalism is like a plague that afflicts all heads of state in Africa, however well meaning their initial efforts. So we should critique more, protest vociferously when things are not going right. There is reason to hope that this time round, in a post-war environment, the populace will understand that keeping the status quo for one reason or the other is not to the general good. Maybe a few lessons would have been learnt. So hope is the engine of dreams but it still needs the reality of checks and balances to make hope fly. Lonta
Well, this sounds very promising. I still question the credibility of the leaders. My question is, why did they have to contract their electricity supply to Belgium? Why couldn't they do it themselves and be independent? This is what Africa needs, Independence for it has all the natural resources to do so...What is the Qualification of the leaders? They only providing more jobs for belgics. Why can't Sierra Leone provide it's own power generators?
After reading this blog I started thinking that it is very amazing that a country like Sierra Leone lack the organization and political motivation to have a stable power supply in the 21 century.
These are my thoughts:
· Why (other than corruption) would a country contract out the power supply to another country? Sierra Leone will never gain full industrial independence by having a Belgium company supply the generators, parts, and most likely the technicians operating the generators. Why can’t Sierra Leone be totally independent by having it’s own “full” sized power stations? God knows Sierra Leone has the recourses, manpower, but totally lacking the political motivation to be independent and self-sustaining. Basic power infrastructure in the 21 century is not difficult to achieve. It looks like the real issue is corruption and that keeps the power of Sierra Leone in the hand of greedy foreigners.
Hope is is very much alive indeed. I resently went to Freetown on holiday and visited a real estate company in Goderich called Regimanuel Gray.A joint venture between Government and a Gahanian company. PEOPLE THIS PLACE IS FANTASTIC.Anyone who wants to buy a house needs to visit this place.First of all it located by the sea side and you know how us jc's go ga ga over the view of the sea side, well i do anyway.The house are not only beautiful but come with everything from washing machines to extrator fans, beautiful finishings and interiors different from anything i have seen in Freetown.I was also told by a sales agent that residents will have access to 24hour electricty and water supply,gabage collection and security patrol services.This is going to be like the Beverly Hills of Freetown. Its time we start seeing things like this in Freetown its high time we moved into the 21st century. If government can continue to encourage investors like this it will be a much easier decision for some of us to move back home. Am impressed!
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