Nawec Needs Transparency and Accountability First, and Not New Vehicles.
It is indeed concerned that an institution that has been certified as underperforming and in huge debt, still goes ahead to borrow more money by asking a private company to prefinance the purchase of vehicles for it. It was in June 2024 when the SOE Commission released a report indicating that NAWEC failed to perform as expected. They said NAWEC achieved only 30% of its key performance indicators in 2021 and only 20% in 2022. For that matter, the SOE Commission unfairly slammed a 5% salary reduction on all staff.
Earlier in 2023, Pres. Barrow signed a performance contract with NAWEC among other SOEs. Until today, these performance contracts were never made public. EF Small Centre wrote to the Office of the President in October 2024 to request for these contract documents in line with the Access to Information Act. Until today, the Office of the President did not even acknowledge receipt of the letter.
Similarly, EFSCRJ also submitted a request to the SOE Commission to provide their report on NAWEC that they submitted to the President. They refused to give that report, rather they only provided NAWEC’s own annual report.
Various reports by the Auditor General on the performance and management of NAWEC indicate gross underperformance, worn-out facilities, poor service delivery, mismanagement and corruption. These issues are perennial. Already NAWEC owes hundreds of millions of dalasi to SSHFC, Karpower, Senelec and other government institutions and external entities.
Given all of the above, what justification is there for NAWEC to purchase 26 vehicles said to cost 100 million dalasi and pre-financed by a private company? What would be the rationale for NAWEC to take more loans when its debts are already through the roof. Meanwhile, the delivery of its services continues to be poorer, more expensive and erratic.
Yes, it is common to call NAWEC to report a burst pipe or a problem with power lines in the community only for them to say they cannot come because they do not have vehicles. But they do not lack big fat SUVs for their top managers. This means they only lack field or service vehicles, which are more important to ensure and improve their services to the masses of our people. But already how many vehicles do NAWEC have? Hundreds and hundreds.
Therefore, why did the NAWEC Board and Management enter this arrangement? Why did the SOE Commission and the Ministry of Energy agree to this arrangement? NAWEC does not need new vehicles. NAWEC needs transparency and accountability first. Public officials cannot prioritize their personal comfort over public convenience.
NAWEC needs to be overhauled because it is a cesspool of corruption, mismanagement, and inefficiency that will never be responsive and efficient in its current set up.
Source Madi Jobarteh.
