By Mabinty M. Kamara
The Ministry of Energy has confirmed the indefinite suspension of the top two officials of the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA). The two are the Director General, Dr Joe-Lahai Sormana and his deputy Ing. Francis Nyama.
Ing. James Rogers has been appointed to act as the Director General until further notice.
The supervising ministry would not comment on the reasons for the suspension.
However, for much of last year and into this year there has been a public outcry over the erosion of electricity supply and the utility company’s inability to adequately deliver on its mandate.
In some homes, the voltage sent can barely light up an incandescent bulb let alone power up any appliances. An issue that Politico extensively reported on before the end of last year but little or no action was taken to address or explain the cause.
Sometimes there is overvoltage leading to the destruction of electrical appliances.
People are hardly notified of expected blackouts or even given reasons as to why there is power outage to homes or offices.
This, after people have got used to uninterrupted power supply.
The rural electrification project has also gone beyond schedule. Despite the many installations of transformers in areas across Sierra Leone to ensure access to electricity and the replacement of old cables with new ones, electricity supply and access remains a challenge in the country.
The suspended EDSA boss, Dr. Sormana declined to comment on his suspension when Politico contacted him saying only that the matter was under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
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