Sierra Leone’s capital has been plunged into darkness for weeks due to Karpowership
Sierra Leone First Lady – Fatima Maada Bio explained how colonialism through its proxies has continued to exert control over the mineral resources in Africa. In summary, in Sierra Leone, every single mining company is foreign owned. The electricity company is run by a foreign company which has failed to meet the demand. One week after she had that talk at Harvard, Sierra Leone’s capital was plunged into darkness for weeks, severely disrupting daily life.
Most of Freetown’s power comes from a Turkish ship, Karpowership, which switched off the lights over an unpaid $48m (£38m) bill. Karpowership is one of the world’s biggest floating power plant operators, with several African states relying on it for electricity. Last October, it cut power to Guinea-Bissau’s capital over unpaid bills, plunging the city into darkness. Sierra Leone said it settled part of a bill owed to Karpowership to restore power to the capital after weeks of electricity cuts. At the eve of SL’s 63rd ‘Independence Anniversary’, even after the alleged payment of $18m to the management of the Karpowership to resolve the electricity menace in Freetown, which has wrecked untold havoc on our business people, my area is still in perpetual blackout.
Where does Africa go from here?
When asked where Africa should head towards …she had this to say..If you try to change the status quo, she says, external forces fund opposition uprisings and sow chaos. The country then becomes ungovernable. But whatever happens, Sierra Leone’s First Lady says things can’t remain as they are.
