Sierra Leone’s Minister of Energy, Alhadji Kanja Sesay, has officially resigned from his position.
It is reported that Sesay’s resignation comes at a time when there have been recent power outages in the country.
Although the specific reasons for Sesay’s resignation were not officially disclosed in a statement from the president’s office on Friday, the energy ministry did not provide any comment in response to AFP’s request.
According to a press release from the presidency, President Julius Maada Bio will now directly oversee the ministry with the help of two other officials.
Sesay’s resignation happened at the same time as the government’s payment of $18.5 million to Turkish Karpowership and Transco-CLSG Group, two power providers to whom Sierra Leone owed a total of $40 million.
It is not certain if Sesay’s resignation is connected to these payments. After the payments were announced, power was restored in Freetown following a two-month period of outages, as reported in the media.
Karpowership, a company that has been providing electricity to Sierra Leone since 2018 using a floating offshore unit, had decreased its capacity from 65 megawatts to only five because of payment problems.
The Turkish group, in a statement, said, “We are pleased to confirm that the electricity supply has returned to full capacity in Freetown.”
