By Edward Vamboi
The Minister of Energy, Alhaji Kanja Sesay, on the 8th July 2021 led a high powered delegation from the Energy Ministry and the oversight committee in Parliament, to assess electricity generation and supply issues in Makeni city.
Paying a courtesy call on the Makeni City Mayor, Sunkari Kamara, the Minister expressed displeasure at the over 1700 faulty metres that were discovered in Makeni by a combined team of EGTC/EDSA staff who were earlier sent by the Energy Ministry on a fact finding mission.
According to the Minister, such a criminal act had deprived Government of huge revenue, considering the strategic location of the city. He however assured the Mayor that 2000 sophisticated metres were already on the way to Makeni for installation, and with a robust monitoring mechanism to root out unpatriotic residents and criminals. He warned that anyone caught in the act of illegal connection and any form of connivance to defraud the State will face the full force of the law.
The Makeni Mayor had earlier pleaded for the release of some residents who were caught in illegal acts, but Minister Kanja Sesay replied that for the sake of peace, some defaulters will be released but that those whose crimes were grave will surely be charged to court.
Addressing the EGTC/EDSA staff, the Minister expressed dissatisfaction at the low revenue collection in the midst of the huge amount of electricity supplied to the city. He admonished them to step up their efforts in revenue collection for services provided and warned against connivance with criminals to deprive the State of the much needed funds to increase electricity generation and supply.
