By VOS Writer
A notice was sent to the Government of SierraLeone by Karpowership drawing their attention about the company intention to scale down power supply on Thursday 12th June,2025 due to unpaid debts. This notice was conveyed to the public by the Ministry of Energy who claimed that they have held negotiation with the management of the ship to extend their contract for a period of one year.
Despite the notice of disconnection, the management of the Electricity ship agrees to provide 6MW specifically for essential services and critical facilities like hospitals.
Nothwistanding this development, the Government through the Ministry of Energy has assured the public that they have taken steps on the instruction of President Bio to mitigate the impact of the reduction in power supply to Freetown.
in the wake of the power reduction, the Ministry assures of ‘load shedding’- a measure taken to prevent the collapse of power system when the demand for electricity exceeds the available supply.
However, critics argued that this move reek desperation and could not address the underlying challenges faced by electricity users when there is insufficient electricity supply. “The Load shedding has little to solve the problem of blackout that Freetownians will be facing as a result of the scaling down of electricity supply by Karpowership. The only way to solve this problem is to pay the ship and allow them to provide uninterrupted power supply to electricity users”, said a Civil rights activist who spoke vigorously to this newspaper.
According to a press release dated 10th June,2025, the Management of Karpowership revealed that despite several engagement for payment of arrears proved futile, the management of the ship issued a suspension notice of electricity supply to the Government of SierraLeone on May 28, requesting 30% of the outstanding amount is settled. This is to compel the Government to find ways in helping to mitigate the impact. But unfortunately, the situation remains unresolved.
However, this ugly development has triggered scathing criticism, accusing the leadership of the energy sector of gross incompetence and lacking negotiation skills.
