By Fatou Sillah
Talib Ahmed Bensouda, the mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council and leader of the United Movement for Change, has publicly challenged the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC), claiming the state utility’s ballooning debt is the primary driver behind the country’s persistent electricity crisis.
In an interview with Eye Africa TV, Mayor Bensouda stated that NAWEC’s financial liabilities have reached critical levels, calling into question the company’s structural stability. Citing data from two years prior, Bensouda noted that published 2024 reports showed the utility owed $20 million to Senegal’s national electricity company (SENELEC) and $8 million to Karpowership, the Turkish company that operates floating power plants in the region.
According to the mayor, unconfirmed reports suggest those liabilities have since nearly doubled.
“I believe NAWEC should come out and tell us what really happened. In 2024, reports came out, and NAWEC itself said that they owe SENELEC 20 million dollars, and they owe Karpowership 8 million dollars, which is from two years ago.”
According to the mayor, unconfirmed reports suggest those liabilities have since nearly doubled.
“So I believe that today that amount has increased, and based on the information that we are hearing, their debts have increased to 40 million dollars, which is equivalent to 3 billion Dalasi, so NAWEC has a financial problem,” Bensouda said.
The mayor’s remarks directly counter recent defenses by NAWEC officials, who have framed local power outages as part of broader, systemic issues affecting the wider West African energy grid.
Bensouda dismissed the narrative that the crisis is purely technical or regional, pointing out the stark disparity in power stability between The Gambia and its neighbors.
“If you say that the issue is a regional issue, I think the issue should start there; then Senegal should not be having electricity by now, but somebody that is supplying you with electricity is having light, and you are not having it; then the issue is not a technical problem and is something else,” he said.
As the sole provider of electricity in The Gambia, NAWEC has faced long-standing criticism over its operational efficiency. Bensouda emphasized that given the utility’s decades-long monopoly and its unchecked power to dictate market rates, it should theoretically operate at a surplus.
“NAWEC has been around for so long now; they should not be having any power issues by now. They are not having any competition, and they are able to set their own prices,” he said.
Looking ahead, Bensouda warned that consumers will likely bear the brunt of the utility’s financial mismanagement through impending tariff hikes. He pointed to recent state expenditure as a sign of an unsustainable economic model.
“The way things are going, the price of Cashpower will be increased,” Bensouda warned. “Because the government said they have spent 500 million Dalasi to subsidize the price of fuel.”
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