By Arret Jatta
The National Assembly Member for Latrikunda Sabiji Yahya Menteng Sanyang has blamed government for the ongoing electricity crisis, describing the situation as a national economic and social emergency that could have been prevented.
“This is no longer a mere inconvenience; it is a full-blown economic and social emergency,” Sanyang told lawmakers while raising a Matter of the Day in the National Assembly.
Rejecting explanations that the crisis stems solely from a reported reduction in regional power imports and shortages of spare parts, Sanyang argued that years of inadequate investment in domestic electricity generation were to blame. He accused the government of relying heavily on imported electricity while neglecting local generation facilities, leaving the country vulnerable to external shocks.
The lawmaker said prolonged power outages across the Greater Banjul Area, the West Coast Region and other parts of the country were causing severe hardship for businesses and households. He argued that small and medium-sized enterprises, including tailors, mechanics, hairdressers and shop owners, were losing income daily because they could not operate without electricity.
Sanyang also highlighted the impact on households, saying many families were losing food supplies stored in refrigerators as outages continued for long hours.
However, Lower Fuladu West NAM Gibbi Mballow disagreed with suggestions that the government had failed to invest in the energy sector, urging lawmakers to avoid politicising the crisis.
“I think Gambians are watching, and this is the time that we stop the politics. Issues of national concern should be taken as national concern,” Mballow said.
He pointed to government investments in electricity expansion and noted that many rural communities had gained access to power for the first time in recent years.
While acknowledging the current difficulties, Mballow argued that the executive remained committed to resolving the problem and cited President Adama Barrow’s visit to Nawec as evidence of concern.
Foni Bintang NAM Bakary K Badjie, however, insisted that the issue was not about politics but the daily realities faced by Gambians.
“This is not a matter of politics. This is a matter of communities,” Badjie said.
He lamented the frequent outages experienced by households and businesses and he called on the government to take immediate action and provide honest answers to the public.
