Dear editor,
This is the same old story that Nawec has been spewing for ages!
But clearly it exposes their utter corruption, incompetence and carelessness. Even a child born in Manjai 5 years ago knows that the Manjai population and businesses are increasing daily which require more electricity and water supply among other basic goods and services. That is no rocket science for anyone to go to China to study and know.
Therefore, the question is, why are Nawec officials sitting in their office just to watch what is damn obvious yet do nothing? Is Nawec saying they do not have professionals or expertise is research, data analysis, business development, forecasting, budgeting, designing, planning and development?
Few years ago, over 15 million dalasi of Nawec funds disappeared at AGIB Bank and until today no one knows the outcome of the so-called investigations.
Meantime Nawec has taken millions of loans from SSHFC while the government itself continuously bail Nawec with millions more which they don’t pay back. Nawec also receives millions of dollars as loans and grants from international financial institutions and development organizations geared towards building the capacity of Nawec to serve Gambian people.
So how come in 2024, Nawec is still complaining of capacity, transformers, electricity lines and generators, transmission and distribution? Why???
Meantime it is not like Nawec is serving a billion people in a huge country with thousands of heavy-duty factories and over a distance of thousands of kilometers with mountains and rivers to cross!!! No.
The size of the Gambia is just 11,000 square kilometers. 2 million people. Nawec is not providing electricity to even half of the Gambian population which means just a million people!!! The longest distance in the country is 400km the widest distance is just 80km which keeps shrinking as you travel down the country. So how come Nawec cannot provide 24/7 water and electricity supply to all Gambians across the country?
The only answer is corruption, incompetence and carelessness.
Nawec management and board do not care because they know that they face no consequences at all. But also, President Barrow does not care. The Minister of Energy does not care. The SOE Commission does not care. And indeed, the National Assembly does not care. They all know nothing will happen to them anyway. This is the hard fact! I challenge them to deny it!
Do your own google search of the many projects and funding that came to Nawec over the past 10 years alone? You will be shocked at the millions of dollars that will pop up! Where is all that money?
After wasting our money and lives, the Government goes further to entrench their corruption, recklessness and incompetence by going to Karpower and Senelec to further defraud the nation! Then they further dramatize the corruption by creating a meaningless SOE Commission just to create jobs for themselves and waste more money!
Where is the SOE Commission Report on Nawec! Why didn’t they make the report public? In fact, where are the performance contracts signed by the President with SOEs since 2 years ago? Why are the so-called performance contracts not made public?
Yet they have the temerity to claim they are interested in transparency, accountability and good governance of the Gambia! Nothing but outright lies intended to hoodwink citizens as they cover up their blatant corruption, recklessness and carelessness and total inefficiency and incompetence.
If any public official denies this, I challenge them to a national debate. From the President to the Minister of Energy, the Chair of the Nawec board, the Chair of the SOE Commission, the Chief of Staff, and the Chair of the National Assembly select committee responsible for Nawec! Indeed, any other interested public official.
If you are a media house including GRTS I hereby challenge you to facilitate this national debate. Anytime. Anywhere.
Madi Jobarteh
Kembujeh
