PROGRESS leader questions power outages despite heavy investment

The leader of PROGRESS Gambia political movement Amadou Jaiteh, has accused government of failing to deliver reliable electricity despite millions of dollars invested in the energy sector since 2017.

Jaiteh listed numerous sums of money he claimed were invested in the energy sector since 2017. He said these include the US$165 million Gambia Electricity Restoration and Modernisation Project, the US$66 million Ecowas Regional Electricity Access Project, and the US$17.5 million African Development Bank-funded Electricity Access Project, alongside other donor-supported initiatives.

“The money came, but the reliable electricity Gambians were promised did not,” he said, arguing that households and businesses continue to suffer prolonged power outages.

He further said the power shortage is affecting welders, tailors, barbers, cold-store operators and other small businesses, leading to lost income and spoiled goods.

Referring to the president’s statement that until the present crisis electricity was stable in the last two years, a development that did not receive big attention because it was good news unlike  the current noise of the past two weeks, Jaiteh said the concerns of the citizens must not be  trivialised  .

“The suffering of citizens is not ‘noise. A welder who cannot work is not making noise. A family sleeping in heat is not making noise. A student studying in darkness is not making noise,” Jaiteh told The Standard.

He further rejected the president’s explanation that the outages are “technical issues” that are “beyond our control,” insisting that government is responsible for ensuring energy security through proper planning and investment.

He criticised the government, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and NAWEC for what he described as poor communication during outages, arguing that citizens deserve timely information, clear explanations and realistic timelines for restoring supply.

According to Jaiteh, The Gambia remains heavily dependent on imported electricity, fuel imports and emergency power arrangements, leaving the country vulnerable to external shocks and supply disruptions.

Jaiteh concluded that despite billions invested in the energy sector, Gambians continue to face blackouts, economic losses and hardship, describing the situation as evidence of the government’s failure to convert major investments and promises into reliable electricity.