Darkness Empire

EDSA Holds Citizens Hostage with Endless Blackouts

By Pateh Bah

Sierra Leoneans have, over the years, endured a crippling electricity crisis that continues to suffocate homes, businesses, hospitals, and educational institutions, with many quarters considering the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) as a national disgrace masquerading as public service.

With this national frustration, EDSA remains centre stage as citizens increasingly view it as being synonymous with inefficiency, poor planning, and unfulfilled promises.  The Inquisitor Newspaper cannot remain silent while an entire nation groans under endless blackouts, and institutional inefficiency.

Despite repeated assurances from authorities, power outages have become a permanent feature of life across the country. Entire communities in Freetown and other provincial towns are plunged into darkness for hours, sometimes days, while consumers continue to top up their prepaid metres for electricity they barely enjoy.

The consequences of this chronic power failure are devastating. Small businesses are collapsing under the weight of fuel costs as shop owners and entrepreneurs resort to generators to survive. Students preparing for public examinations are forced to study in candlelight. Hospitals and health centers struggle to preserve medicines and operate essential equipment. The economy itself is bleeding from the persistent inability of EDSA to provide stable and reliable electricity.

The apparent absence of accountability has compounded the situation more so as Sierra Leoneans are repeatedly told that technical faults, unpaid debts, fuel shortages, or damaged infrastructure are responsible for outages. However, billions of Leones are reportedly spent on the energy sector with little visible improvement in power supply. Citizens are now asking a legitimate question, where is the progress?

The silence and sluggish response from EDSA management only deepen public anger, public confidence in the institution has steadily eroded, with many viewing EDSA as disconnected from the daily suffering of ordinary citizens.

No modern nations can develop in darkness. Reliable electricity is not a luxury, but a basic necessity for economic growth, national security, education, healthcare, and industrialization. Sierra Leone cannot continue to preach development while its citizens remain trapped in endless blackouts.

The government must urgently confront this crisis with seriousness and honesty. Cosmetic explanations and temporary interventions are no longer enough. Sierra Leoneans deserve a functioning electricity system, competent management, and a clear roadmap toward sustainable energy stability.

Until then, the darkness consuming the nation will remain a painful symbol of institutional failure and broken promises.

The silence and excuses from EDSA leadership have become both insulting and unacceptable. Sierra Leoneans deserve transparency. They deserve accountability. They deserve answers. How can a nation blessed with abundant natural resources continue to remain trapped in darkness? Why do power outages persist despite endless government assurances? Why must ordinary citizens continue to pay more for less service?

What is even more troubling is the apparent normalization of failure within the energy sector. Every rainy season, dry season, technical fault, or fuel shortage becomes another justification for nationwide power outages. Instead of long-term planning and strategic investment, Sierra Leoneans are fed temporary solutions and empty public relations statements while their suffering deepens.

This is not merely an attack on EDSA; but a call to national conscience. The government must recognize that energy instability is directly linked to unemployment, poverty, insecurity, and slow economic growth. No serious nations can industrialize or attract meaningful investment while operating in perpetual darkness.

As EDSA continues making excuses, Sierra Leoneans are tired of candlelight governance in the twenty-first century. National progress cannot continue to be held hostage by incompetence, poor planning, and institutional complacency.

A nation cannot rise in darkness. Sierra Leone deserves better.