The Minister of Energy in Sierra Leone, Alhaji Kanja Sesay, had on Friday, stepped down, according to the president’s office. This development is coming against a background of recent interruptions to the country’s power supply.
The reasons for Alhadji Kanja Sesay’s resignation had not been officially explained at press time and the energy ministry has yet to respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, a press release from the Presidency has said that the ministry has been placed under the direct supervision of President Julius Maada Bio, who will be helped by two other officials.
Sesay’s resignation had come several hours after the government paid a total of $18.5 million to two energy providers, Turkish Karpowership and Transco-CLSG group.
Sierra Leone owes the two producers a cumulative total of $40 million but it is not clear whether Sesay’s resignation was related to the energy payments.
After two months of power outages, electricity was restored in Freetown after the payments were announced, an AFP journalist had said.
Karpowership has been a major supplier of electricity to Sierra Leone since 2018, from a floating offshore unit, but it had moderated its capacity from 65 megawatts to just five in recent months due to payment issues.
The Turkish group had released a statement after the latest payment was announced, saying, “We are pleased to confirm that the electricity supply has returned to full capacity in Freetown.”
