By Ragan M. Conteh

The Management of the Electricity, Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) is not always in the news but when it does, it is always for the wrong reasons.

If customers are not complaining of erratic electricity supply that destroys appliances, they will be complaining of having blackouts or worse of it talking of inability by some  staff of the company to be inadequately address customers’  concerns and among other things.

Lately, the EDSA Management is in Court over its failure to honour the compensation payment of one of its workers. The EDSA is facing a lawsuit in a Freetown High Court over its failure to fully compensate their staff, John Sarra, who was gruesomely involved in a life-threatening accident at the Spur Loop axis, West of Freetown whilst on duty.

According to the particulars of offense brought against the Management of EDSA at the Freetown High Court presided over by Justice Samuel O Taylor, the victim John Sarra, a  former employee of EDSA Sierra Leone was initially  employed as a casual worker in the Preventive and Maintenance Department  of EDSA from  2010 to 2020 with  his job description being doing erection and installation of poles, running high tension cables, rectifying feeder shortages and faults, restore or repair damaged wires and poles.

On  that fateful day on 8th June  this year, he was instructed by his then Supervisor, Mr Jorgor to go and rectify  a fault at Spur Road, Wilberforce because there was no power supply in that area.

Sarra told this medium that he obeyed  the instruction  of his boss and immediately went to the area at  Bluebell , Spur Road and upon  arrival he called to inform  the sub-station that he was about to start the repairs and that they should turn off the  light whilst  he was doing the work. But  unfortunately the high tension current was switched on whilst  he was still  ontop of  the  electricity pole  that resulted to him being  shocked by the current  and such a mishap   disfigured   his entire body as he was later amputated  making him to  lose  both  hands  and other parts of his body.

John Sarra examined here: “after I   informed   the substation to switch off the light,  I  was in my dress of the protective gears provided to me by EDSA and I went up the pole to fix  the problem.”  Whilst  I was still  on the pole, without waiting for me to  notify them that I  had completed  the work so I could climb down, EDSA [workers on duty] then turned  on the high tension voltages which caused  me severe injuries on my entire body as I was left hanging on the high tension pole for  some  minutes,” he explained while in tears.

He said this accident led to the amputation of both his hands as he sustained  injuries on his right lower limb.

John Sarra maintained that after the incident, he was rescued by some neighbours who rushed him to the Connaught Hospital but was later referred to the  34 Military Hospital where he was hospitalized for several months.

He informed this press on phone that that EDSA management started paying his medical bills but for only a short period and later abandoned him at the hospital and that has made his condition to ever deteriorate further. “I was left to die and I had no option but to employ the services of lawyers that wrote a letter to EDSA demanding them to take up by fulfilling their responsibility which EDSA is not complying to.”

When the matter was called for hearing, on Monday 21st October at the High Court, EDSA’s lawyer appeared but could only ask for adjournment, which prompted the Judge to ask the EDSA legal team to submit an “affidavit in opposition.”

The matter comes up again on Monday 28th October 2024.