Op-Ed: Sierra Leone Is Burning, and EDSA’s Leadership Is Fanning the Flames

Two fires. One week. Both at the heart of our nation’s most critical institutions.

The first, at State House—the very seat of presidential power. The second, dangerously close to the 34 Military Barracks and Hospital, a vital defence and medical facility.

These are not just coincidences. These are warnings. And behind the smoke is an unmistakable truth: Sierra Leone’s power sector is in chaos, and the leadership of EDSA is directly complicit.

While flames engulf buildings and panic spreads, Joe Lahai Sormona, Director General of EDSA, and his Deputy, James Rogers, continue to preside over a system collapsing under their watch. A system riddled with incompetence, corruption, and unchecked greed. A system that has become a playground for a well-entrenched cartel, more invested in illegal tariff abstraction and backdoor deals than in delivering safe, reliable electricity to the people of this country.

How is it that State House, the most secure office in Sierra Leone, suffers an electrical fire? How does a blaze threaten the military’s main hospital, putting the lives of soldiers and civilians at risk?

The answer lies in EDSA’s willful neglect.

The network is overloaded, transformers are failing, and safety protocols are being ignored. Engineers demand bribes to fix faults. EDSA staff openly extort communities to provide connections or replace damaged infrastructure. All this while spare parts and materials rot in storage.

And yet, no heads have rolled.

Not Sormona’s. Not Rogers’. Not a single executive has been held accountable.

What we are witnessing is not a failure of systems—it is a failure of leadership. It is criminal mismanagement. It is corruption with consequences. And it is costing us lives and national security.

When the very institutions that anchor our democracy and defend our sovereignty are at risk of being reduced to ash, the question is no longer if action should be taken—but why it hasn’t already.

Why has the Ministry of Energy not removed the very people sabotaging its vision?

Why is the EDSA cartel still in place, bleeding this nation dry?

Why are Sierra Leoneans being forced to live in fear of power that does more harm than good?

The fires this week are not isolated. They are a signal—one that should shake this government to its core. Until there is a complete and transparent overhaul of EDSA, led by people with integrity and technical competence, Sierra Leone will continue to burn—literally and figuratively.

Joe Lahai Sormona and James Rogers must be removed. The EDSA cartel must be dismantled. And a full-scale investigation must begin immediately.

The people of Sierra Leone are watching. And they are tired of ashes.