By Abiola Olawale
Sierra Leone’s minister of energy, Kanja Sesay has announced his decision to resign his position from the administration of President Julius Maada Bio.
The resignation of Sesay was announced in a statement issued by the president’s office on Friday.
Although the real reason for the resignation was not clearly stated in the press statement, it comes amidst the electricity crisis troubling Sierra Leone.
It would be recalled that the Ministry of Energy had been placed under the direct supervision of President Julius Maada Bio, who was assisted by two other officials.
Most of the parts of Sierra Leone were reportedly experiencing total power outages over alleged debts owed to the two power providers in the country.
Sesay’s resignation also came hours after the government paid $18.5 million to two power providers, Turkish Karpowership and Transco-CLSG group.
According to reports, Sierra Leone owed the two producers a total of $40 million.
Karpowership has been supplying electricity to Sierra Leone since 2018 from a floating offshore unit. Still, it had reduced its capacity from 65 megawatts to just five in recent months due to payment issues.
“We are pleased to confirm that the electricity supply has returned to full capacity in Freetown,” the Turkish group said in a statement after the latest payment was announced.
