By: Benedict AbuBakarr Conteh
Screenshot of the video where Honourable Kandeh Yumkella made the claim.
Claim: Hon. Kandeh Yumkella asserted during a press briefing that Makeni and Kono enjoy a 24-hour electricity supply as of March 2025.
Verdict: Partly True. While testimonies from residents in Koidu, Kono district, confirmed a reliable electricity supply, interviews with residents and stakeholders and a feasibility study of the power supply in Makeni, Bombali district, indicate that a consistent 24-hour electricity supply was unavailable.
Full Text
A Facebook video post from the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority page has caused controversy online. Sierra Leone’s Energy Sector Lead, Hon. Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, is seen in the video referencing Hon. Saa Emerson Lamina of Kono District and Hon. Catherine Zainab Tarawalie of Bombali District, who say their districts are enjoying a 24-hour uninterrupted electricity supply.
Hon. Kandeh referenced these lawmakers during a media engagement on the challenges faced by the energy sector and set plans to mitigate the challenges.
This video has appeared on many Facebook pages, groups and TikTok pages as seen here, here, here and here recently.
Since the video was posted on EDSA Sierra Leone’s Facebook page, it has garnered significant traction on the social media platform and attracted many criticisms, few of which are listed below:
Kalie John Kargbo “Who told him Makeni have 24 hours electricity? Maybe he was told so, but for us resident of Makeni we understand what is happening here.”
Mohamed Khalil “So so so lie lie no light come to Makeni and see if there is light the transformers are too small.”
Joseph Kendrick Amara, “I think the public will digest this information. We hope for changes.”
Abu Bakarr Thaimu Bangura “Na God go punish all with una generation if Makeni get 24hrs light because na dae me dae twwwwwww.” Sahr Kellie responded to Abu Bakarr Thaimu Bangura, “But according to KKY, ee say na we yone Hon Zainab Tarawali tell am so.”
Yealie Sowa asked in Krio, “Hus Bombali, how do we get 24 hours of electricity? We can have a blackout for up to 5 days now. Hus kind lie lie way den d talk so Makeni don't join the blackout committee for the past 1 year. Light na on en off.”
These are just a few of the many comments expressed by social media users on Facebook pages and groups, as well as TikTok accounts that shared the video.
According to the World Bank’s Enhancing Sierra Leone Energy Access Project P171059, one of the primary binding constraints to growth and poverty reduction in Sierra Leone is the lack of reliable and affordable energy (electricity) supply services.
Sierra Leone has one of the lowest electricity access rates in the world.
According to information provided by EDSA, as of the end of 2019, about 178,100 households across the country were connected to and served by the primary grid and isolated grids EDSA owns and operates. This represents about 14 per cent of the country's 1,248,000 households.
There are 55 privately operated renewable energy-based mini-grids across the country: 50 with installed solar Photovoltaic (PV) capacity ranging from 16 kW to 36 kW each, three systems of 66 - 127 kW, and two hydropower mini-grids at 128 kW and 250 kW, respectively.
These systems serve villages and communities with 100 to 2,000 households. These mini-grids serve approximately 10,000 households, representing just below 1 per cent of the total number of households in Sierra Leone.
The Sierra Leone Solar Association estimated that about 100,000 households now have solar products at home, mostly Pico systems (over 80 per cent) and some small-sized SHS (15 per cent).
Screenshot of page 6 of The World Bank Enhancing Sierra Leone Energy Access (P171059) project
As fact-checkers, we are concerned about the claim's spread and intense public engagement. This urgency prompted an investigation to clarify the proper context and prevent misinformation from distorting public opinion or exacerbating political misunderstandings when the country faces a crisis with its electricity supply.
Verification
On October 4, 2022, President Julius Maada Bio committed to his nationwide tour and promised uninterrupted electricity for residents of Kono District starting October 10, 2022. He said lighting up Kono is part of his government’s commitment to electrifying all district headquarters towns, Politico SL reported.
Between 2010 and 2018, Makeni saw improvements in electricity supply, but never maintained continuous 24-hour service for its residents.
In 2010, Sierra Leone’s total national electricity generation capacity was approximately 24 MW, with just 1.3 MW allocated to the northern region, including Makeni, as reported by the World Bank’s energy assessment. The launch of the Bumbuna Hydroelectric Dam in 2011 significantly boosted capacity in the North to about 51 MW, allowing EDSA to connect Makeni to a more reliable grid.
On the national level, energy access remained limited. According to the World Bank, only about 12% of Sierra Leoneans had access to electricity by 2016, mostly concentrated in Freetown. The remainder of the population relied on biomass fuels. A 2016 Afrobarometer survey revealed that 29% of Sierra Leoneans lived in grid-served areas, and just 41% of those had connections, with only a fraction reporting electricity “most or all of the time.”
Later, the 2018 Afrobarometer Round Seven showed modest gains, but only 50% of grid households reported reliable electricity, and national coverage remained low.
West African Power Pool (WAPP) TRANSCO CLSG - Credit: State House, Freetown
DUBAWA analyzed the video, which lasted for 3 minutes and 33 seconds.
The claim was made at 0:17 to 0:36 seconds of the video, thus:
“Last week, we had a hearing in Parliament for the approval of the Deputy Minister 2 of Energy. In that hearing, we were very pleased that the Honourable Member of Parliament for Kono, Hon. Emmerson Saa Lamina, announced that they are very happy in Kono. They have 24-hour electricity. Hon. Catherine Zainb Tarawalie of Bombali, Makeni city in particular, also announced that they are very happy and that they are having 24-hour electricity.”
DUBAWA contacted the two claimants to confirm whether they had made the claim.
Hon. Catherine Zainab Tarawalie debunked the claim, saying she never said such to him. “I did not say that to him. I said Makeni used to be the city of light,” she told our researcher via WhatsApp.
On the other hand, Hon. Saa Emerson Lamina did not respond to the messages and emails sent to him to clarify the claim.
Hon. Kandeh Yumkella, who made the claim at the parliamentary sitting, was contacted via SMS, but he has yet to respond as of the time of filing this report (Monday, June 23rd, 2025).
DUBAWA checked the website of the Parliament of the Republic of Sierra Leone and saw the Ninth Report of the Committee on Appointments and Public Service, chaired by the Leader of Government Business, Honourable Sahr Mathew Nyuma. The report was published on Thursday, March 27, 2025. DUBAWA examined the parliament’s report and observed that no related statement was credited to Hon. Tarawalie regarding a 24-hour electricity supply for the people of Makeni.
Screenshot of the Ninth Report of the Committee on Appointments and Public Service showing Hon. Catherine’s statement on that hearing
All efforts to get accurate information (about the number of hours electricity was supplied in the areas) from the EDSA spokespersons in the two districts were unsuccessful, as they did not respond to DUBAWA’s inquiry as of the time this report was filed on June 23, 2025.
Residents in Makeni refuted the claim, as the township has not enjoyed a 24-hour electricity supply since 2018. However, they claimed to be enjoying a 6-hour electricity supply daily.
Andrew Fofanah, a resident in Makeni, told DUBAWA that sometimes, they go to bed without having an electricity supply, but when they wake up, they see their homes being powered. Stephanie Ada, another resident, also asserted that they have been going through this for six months, especially when the National Power Grid, which lights their homes, was shut down for routine maintenance, hoping that electricity would be restored. Still, it just worsened their hopes and aspirations for the electricity sector. This was shared using Krio Language, according to short voice messages and chats sent to this researcher via WhatsApp and Microsoft Forms.
“We sometimes get electricity at 6:00 am and sometimes back at 12:00-1:00 am,” Mohamed Med Pee, another resident, told DUBAWA.
A video showing no electricity supply at New London area in Makeni after the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority EDSA took the power supply at 6:05 PM on Saturday, 28 June, 2025.
Another video shared by a resident in Makeni also shows electricity supply at the New London area in Makeni at 12:26 AM on June 29, 2025, when the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority EDSA restored power supply.
Some residents in Kono, however, confirmed that they don’t have a problem with the electricity supply. A comment by a Kono resident who responded to the Microsoft Form shared with them by DUBAWA said, “We don't have a problem with the power supply in Koidu City; our major problem is the substandard network/cables within the city. If we are to fully enjoy uninterrupted electricity supply in Koidu City, the authorities must endeavour to change the power cables in the city.”
Another resident in Kono, Richard Tamba Ellie confirmed that, “Koidu currently has the most reliable electricity supply in Sierra Leone.” He added, “Light can stay two weeks without blinking, and if it blinks, it can’t be up to an hour except there is a major problem which hardly occurs.”
Conclusion
While the electricity supply has improved in parts of Kono and Makeni, the claims of a 24-hour uninterrupted power supply are partly true. The situation on the ground, resident testimonies, data from credible organisations, and independent surveys confirm that blackouts still occur daily, especially for residents in Makeni. Residents are still finding it difficult to enjoy an uninterrupted 24-hour electricity supply as of the time of this publication. As of this report, Kono residents are enjoying a 24-hour electricity supply, but were not getting a 24-hour electricity supply in March 2025, as claimed by the Hon. Lamina.
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