Dr. Ceesay: Barrow Has Fulfilled Electricity Pledge, Citing Significant Improvement in Power Supply

By Fatou Sillah

The Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, said President Adama Barrow had fulfilled his promise to improve The Gambia’s electricity supply, pointing to what he described as a significant stabilization of power in recent days.

Speaking about the country’s electricity situation, Dr. Ceesay said the government had seen noticeable improvements and expected them to continue as officials at the National Water and Electricity Company, or NAWEC, work to resolve lingering technical problems.

“We have seen significant improvement in the situation, and we foresee this continuing that way,” he said.

Dr. Ceesay said not every power outage should be attributed to a reduction in electricity imported from outside the country. Some disruptions, he said, are caused by technical problems within the domestic distribution network, particularly during periods of high demand.

He said transformers can become overloaded during peak hours, when electricity consumption rises sharply, including from widespread use of air conditioners. Such pressure, he said, can cause transformers to trip and temporarily interrupt supply.

“The promise has been fulfilled already because of the stabilization in the supply,” Dr. Ceesay said.

He also provided an update on three generating units expected to add a combined 24 megawatts to the country’s electricity capacity. The machines are currently in Senegal and remain expected to arrive in The Gambia by the end of October, he said.

Once they arrive in Banjul, the units will have to be installed and configured before they can begin generating electricity.

Dr. Ceesay said congestion at a Senegalese port had complicated their transportation, but that the government was using its bilateral relationship with Senegal to help facilitate their movement to The Gambia.

The minister also said a government electricity task force had begun collecting data to establish a clearer picture of the country’s generation capacity. The assessment will examine how much electricity existing generators are producing and how much additional capacity is expected from incoming units.

Dr. Ceesay urged Gambians to remain patient as the government and NAWEC continue efforts to stabilize the electricity supply.

His comments come after weeks of public frustration over prolonged and recurrent power cuts, which have intensified scrutiny of the government’s management of the electricity sector and its efforts to secure a more reliable supply.