Pro-Democracy Activist and Lawyer, Augustine Sorie-Sengbe Marrah has reminded the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) of their 2018 New Direction People’s manifesto, in which they criticized the then-ruling APC party’s unreliable electricity supply.

Recent times have seen Sierra Leone grappling with significant power outages and unpredictable electricity supply. Notably, Turkish Karpowership recently halted its power supply to Freetown due to a $45 million debt owed by the national government.

Adding to the energy crisis, the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) has declared a 100% tariff hike, effective from October 1, 2023. This move has understandably upset many Sierra Leoneans, with widespread grievances about the heightened tariffs amidst the ongoing erratic power supply, especially in sections of the capital, Freetown.

Taking to social media, Lawyer Marrah highlighted the promises made in the SLPP’s 2018 manifesto and pointed out that Sierra Leone’s electricity problems have not improved, but rather worsened.

He said, “In their 2018 New Direction People’s Manifesto, the SLPP then opposition party undressed the APC party’s unreliable and irregular supply of electricity with “over-bloated costs” and asserted that the entire sector was “ridden with inefficiency and corruption on an epic scale”. 5 years later, this story is the same and now, even worse with epileptic supply of electricity even in the height of the rainy season.”

Marrah accentuated the skyrocketing electricity costs, which are becoming burdensome for the average Sierra Leonean, and expressed disappointment in the government’s lack of effective solutions for the people’s woes.