By Ragan M. Conteh

The Deputy Leader of the opposition party in Parliament who also doubles as the Member of Parliament representing Koinadugu District, Hon Daniel Brima Koroma has accused some investors and factories owners of electricity theft.

Hon. Koroma also accused the Ministry of Energy for wasting and misusing the country’s resources by installing a transformer at Banana Water close to Conex Filling Station at Congo Cross in Freetown.

They said the transformer had been there four years without being used.

Hon. Koroma emphasized that the Ministry of Energy had abandoned the transformer with no use, adding that it was a brand new transformer that was installed by the Ministry of Energy.

The acting leader made the disclosure on Tuesday 25th June, 2024, in the Well of Parliament during the approval of two presidential nominees.

However, he said, Sierra Leoneans are still crying due to the country’s electricity problem notably on power generation but not the distribution.

The APC MP argued that there is distribution system provided by the ministry but had not been used.

He urged the proposed Deputy Ministry 2 of Energy, Edmond B. Nonie, if approved, to verify and cross-check the information regarding the transformer at Banana Water.

Hon. Koroma said Sierra Leoneans are deprived of electricity and are suffering from blackout owing to lack of distribution.

But he doubted of a system which the government had paid for but not being used.

Talking on the electricity theft, he said, not only owners of congregated houses ( pan body) are in the habit of stealing electricity but also some big “time investors” including factories owners have been illegally abstracting and stealing electricity in the country.

Giving a classic scenario, he said, there was a year when one of the factories was caught red-handed in electricity theft.

At the end of the day, he said, the owner of the factory was fined.

He said such behaviors, by investors who steal electricity, render government to run into big loss.

“When it comes to electricity theft, people do focus on corrugated houses or two rooms and parlour, forgetting that there are also big time investors including factories that engage in electricity theft,’ he affirmed.

He said, in a particular year, the factories which were caught stealing electricity were fined with huge amount of money by the government.