Moyamba Town, Southern Region, Sunday 18 June 2023 – Flagbearer of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party, SLPP, His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio, has switched on the 2-megawatt thermal generator in Moyamba Town, returning electricity to the largest and most ethnically diverse city in the Moyamba District after 45 years.
The SLPP-led government has commissioned a total of about 100 mini-grids already installed nationwide as part of its drive to electrify major towns across the country, apart from the seven targeted towns that will benefit from the thermal generators.
Moyamba township electrification is one of President Bio’s manifesto promises he made in 2018, committing to electrify seven district headquarters, including Bonthe, Kambia, Kabala, Kailahun, Moyamba, Mattru Jong, and Pujehun. The project is 100 percent government-funded and aims at addressing what the President would refer to as “the historic injustices major districts in the country have suffered”.
The Minister of Energy, Alhaji Kanja Sesay, said he was under instruction by His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio that he must ensure the electrification of the seven towns at all costs. He said that considering that electricity was not an easy component to deliver, his team had spent a long time completing the transmission and distribution network and the installation of the generating machines.
The energy minister said, “The switching on of the generating machine by President Bio in Moyamba, Kailahun and the other places, is one of his dreams and the promises he made to the people in the seven targeted towns and to Sierra Leoneans in general. Most of these towns had been without electricity for over 30 to 40 years.
“The 2 megawatts in Moyamba town, for instance, are just the thermal machines that we have already installed. We are going to come with an additional 3 megawatts of solar. The plan is that, during the day, we will be able to use the solar and at night the thermal generators will be used to ensure the people have electricity”.
Aminata Mamie Boima, 49, recalled how they used to have electricity in Moyamba and that, at the time, the district was instrumental to the country. She said the return of electricity to the district headquarters town was a laudable development that would not only improve education but would also improve healthcare delivery and agriculture.
She said it would increase productivity and trade, improve their security and, above all, their food items would be preserved. She added that it would boast the hospitality industry, especially as bigger hotels and guest houses were being constructed in the township.
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