Liberia’s lack of stable electricity continues to contribute significantly to the high cost of living and poses serious economic and social development challenges.
By Lincoln G. Peters
Friday, February 14, 2025/ Vice President Jeremiah K. Koung has expressed concern over a potential rebellion from citizens that could jeopardize the government’s stability. He said the instability and lack of electricity supply across the country could fuel this unrest.
“I listened to most of our partners, and most of the plans are toward 2030, but our people are running out of patience. This electricity issue can crumble a country,” VP Koung argued while delivering a special remark at a commissioning ceremony on Wednesday, February 12.
“When we listen to the radio every morning, sometimes on social media, it has become a joke now, and that joke is serious. Some people will post and say, ‘I am at Duport Road; we are in darkness, what is happening to your community?’ From there, other people will start to post. You could wake up one morning, and the people take to the streets, and they can bring the government down,” VP Koung added.
During his special remark at the commissioning of the Liberia Energy Efficiency and Access Project on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, in the Unification City, RIA highway, Mr. Koung disclosed that under the ARREST agenda, the “E” in the platform stands for energy while the “A” stands for agriculture, which takes precedence.
However, he emphasized that agriculture will never thrive without the availability of electricity. He pointed out that electricity and roads are the two pillars of Liberia’s growth.
“With electricity, someone can manage food for an entire week because of the electricity storage facility,” he explained, highlighting that electricity is the foundation of healthcare. “No doctor will diagnose a patient by merely looking at their face; it is done through an electronic diagnostic machine.”
He criticized the Vision 2030 proposed by development partners as being too prolonged, given Liberians’ impatience and desperate need for transformative change.
The global 2030 goal, also known as the “UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development,” aims to achieve a world where poverty and hunger are eradicated, inequalities are reduced, gender equality is achieved, climate action is taken, and the planet is protected, all by the year 2030; this is outlined through 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) covering various aspects of social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
The goal is to ensure everyone benefits from progress, particularly the most vulnerable populations.
Against this backdrop, Vice President Koung told international partners that the renewable energy and the solar farm expected to be constructed in the Scheffline barrack area are welcoming and appreciable, especially the expansion of the Mount Coffee hydro, insisting that addressing energy needs is very critical.
“While we work on the solar during the dry, the hydro comes on. During the dry, there is a serious issue with power, which leads to many deaths in our hospitals.
Imagine someone on the operation table, and LEC is rationing electricity, and out of nowhere, electricity is gone. All the machines shout down, and someone loses their life. We have to focus on generation,’’ he noted.
He acknowledged that the government and its partners are doing well to extend access to electricity, but the focus should be on power generation.
“With electricity, the costs of living can be reduced drastically. I am saying so because today, most people go to the market every day and cook because they don’t have electricity for storage. And so, if someone cooks today and food is left for the next day, they have to waste it and go back to the market because the electricity that provides storage is an issue. If we can address the availability of electricity, we will address the bread-and-butter issues,’’ VP Koung stated. -Edited by Othello B. Garblah.
