By Seedy Jobe
The national campaign manager for UNITE, MC Cham Jr., has criticized the government and the National Water and Electricity Company over a fresh wave of power outages across the country, asking whether The Gambia was returning to what he called “NAWEC’s default setting of darkness.”
Over the past several days, the greater Banjul area has experienced repeated blackouts, particularly at night, prompting widespread questions about the cause. Critics have pointed to a two-month electricity supply arrangement with Senegal that is set to expire, suggesting it may be behind the disruptions.
In a statement shared with Kerr Fatou on Friday, Mr. Cham said the outages had disrupted homes, communities, and businesses despite earlier government assurances that the power situation had been addressed.
He said the consequences extended well beyond the loss of light. For many households, he said, the blackouts meant food could no longer be stored safely: a family that once bought fish to last three days now had to buy it fresh daily, adding to the strain of an already difficult cost of living.
Business owners, he said, were also bearing significant costs. Shopkeepers risked losing stock, workers were losing hours, and small businesses were losing customers and income.
“Foundation stones cannot light our homes. Speeches cannot preserve our food. Promises cannot keep our businesses running,” Mr. Cham said, in an apparent reference to President Barrow’s continuing schedule of project launches around the country.
Mr. Cham faulted NAWEC and the government for what he described as a lack of clear communication, saying Gambians deserved to know the cause of the outages, their expected duration, and what steps were being taken to resolve them.
He also raised questions about a reported 60-day electricity supply agreement between NAWEC and Senegal’s national utility, SENELEC. He asked whether that agreement had already expired and, if so, why no contingency arrangements had been made in advance. If the agreement remained in effect, he said, the public was owed an explanation for the current disruptions.
He accused the government of managing the country’s electricity supply through last-minute decisions and temporary fixes rather than credible long-term planning.
“We are not asking for a luxury. We are asking for a basic service that people pay for and depend on every day,” Mr. Cham said.
He called on the government and NAWEC to offer a truthful accounting of the situation, take immediate corrective action, and present a long-term plan for a reliable electricity supply.
Mr. Cham said Gambians had grown weary of repeated excuses, uncertainty, and poor communication, and called for proactive leadership, accountable institutions, and a dependable power supply capable of sustaining a dignified standard of living and work.
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