Sierra Leone’s capital city is bracing for massive blackouts as the Ministry of Energy has confirmed that Turkish energy provider Karpowership will cease supplying electricity to Freetown at midnight on June 12, 2025, citing unpaid bills. This comes after months of what the government calls “negotiations,” but what critics are calling yet another example of dangerous incompetence and official negligence that threatens the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Sierra Leoneans.
A press statement issued today by the Ministry of Energy admits that despite extended conversations with Karpowership for a contract renewal, the company issued a formal disconnection notice on May 28, warning that power supply would be cut due to outstanding payments. The disconnection will leave Freetown — already struggling with erratic supply — in darkness, with only a 6-megawatt lifeline reserved for essential services like hospitals.
Despite this looming crisis, the Ministry attempted to offer reassurances, stating that “aggressive reforms” are underway and that steps have been taken to mitigate the impact — all on the instructions of President Julius Maada Bio. However, there was no concrete timeline for restoring full supply, no clarity on how payments would be made, and no plan shared for how the most vulnerable citizens — the poor, the sick, the schoolchildren — would be protected.
“There will be some load shedding,” the statement says, with a casualness that belies the serious impact of electricity outages in a city where most people live hand-to-mouth and rely on power for everything from food storage to school preparation and small business operation.
In the poorest parts of Freetown, where candles have already replaced lightbulbs, the news has landed like a hammer blow. Mothers worry about preserving breastmilk and medicines. Students preparing for exams will now study in the dark. Petty traders who rely on power to keep their goods fresh fear total loss of income.
“They don’t care about us,” said Mariama, a 35-year-old street vendor in Kroo Bay. “How can you let light go off and say it will be ‘managed’? Manage it how? This is suffering.”
The Ministry’s statement offers no apology for the failure to pay Karpowership on time, nor does it explain why the public is only being informed three days before the disconnection takes effect. Instead, it highlights reforms at the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) — reforms which have yet to result in tangible improvements for ordinary people.
As Freetown faces the imminent blackout, questions mount over how a government that claims to champion development and “affordable power” could allow one of the city’s most critical services to collapse with such predictability.
Activists and opposition figures have long warned that Sierra Leone’s reliance on expensive foreign power deals, poor contract management, and a lack of transparency in the energy sector would eventually lead to disaster. That day, it seems, has come.
At a Glance: What the Government Said
• Karpowership disconnection effective midnight, June 12, 2025
• Only 6MW supply will be reserved for hospitals and essential services
• No payment plan disclosed
• Ministry promises “load shedding will be properly managed”
• President Bio reportedly gave “instructions” to mitigate impact
• Reforms ongoing at EDSA — no details provided
As citizens brace for deeper darkness and growing hardship, the government’s failure to act swiftly and transparently has once again exposed the fragility of Sierra Leone’s public services and the disproportionate suffering borne by the country’s poorest.
In a country where electricity is a privilege, not a right, the lights are going out — and with them, the hopes of millions.
By Joshua Gooding
