Newly appointed Minister of Energy Alhaji Kanja Sesay must be a very happy man for having passed with flying colors his first crucial performance test of providing the capital city of Freetown that had returned to the crippling blackout reminiscent of the 1990s.

Working on the government’s principle of transparency, cost-cutting and value for money, the hard-nosed Alhaji Kanja Sesay and his top ministry brasses and energy experts successfully negotiated a new deal with the Turkish Power ship to provide Freetown with 30 megawatts of electricity at a price considerably lesser than that negotiated by the former APC Government – a deal that the World Bank which is very fussy about prudent public spending certified as excellent and in the best interest of the country.

In spite of the erstwhile APC Government Minister of Energy, Henry Macaulay having said that in 2017, EGTC and EDSA generated almost 350 million kWh, with an increased installed capacity to about 280 megawatt, Alhaji Kanja Sesay has been hard pressed to provide the capital city Freetown with electricity as supply reached rock bottom in April and May due to the Bumbuna dam running dry and the generating plants at Black Hall Road and King Tom sorely in need of maintenance.

Minister Macauley was honest to state that meeting electricity generation target often eludes Government because electricity is expensive and the ability to mobilize and provide financial guarantees often causes a strain which stalls the projects.He added that, as we know, during the dry season, we lose up to 90% of Bumbuna and this is nature, not anyone’s doing so we need to run our thermal plants to fill up the gap as the demand for power in Freetown has jumped from 30MW few years back to over 70MW.

With President Bio determined to push the country’s development in a ‘New Direction’, Alhaji Kanja Sesay has the more daunting task of meeting Goal 7 of the Sustainable Development Goal aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable energy across the country for enhancing economic well-being and quality of life.
In prioritizing investment in energy, the World Bank notes that it provides huge employment opportunities, as well as goes a long way in the fight against poverty through self-employment activities in many sectors.