Residents, Business Owners Demand Immediate Restoration of Electricity in Zowienta
ZOWIENTA, Bong County – Frustration continues to grow among residents and business owners in Zowienta and surrounding communities following more than two months of power outage, prompting renewed calls for urgent intervention from the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC).
Leading the call is the Chief Executive Officer of Menina Resort, William F. Kotee, who has formally petitioned LEC Managing Director Mohammed M. Sherif to take immediate action to restore electricity to the affected communities.
In a communication addressed to LEC management, Kotee described the situation as a serious electricity crisis that has left communities in Zowienta, Bong County Electoral District #1, in complete darkness for nearly two months.
According to him, the prolonged blackout has caused significant economic hardship for residents and business owners who are now forced to depend on costly generators to operate their businesses. He further noted that the absence of electricity and street lighting has heightened security concerns throughout the area.
Kotee attributed the continued outage to the failure of Jungle Energy Power (JEP), the company responsible for power distribution and maintenance in Bong County under a public-private partnership arrangement.
“Their continued inaction and lack of maintenance have left the grid completely non-functional for our region,” Kotee stated, while calling on LEC to urgently assess the damaged transmission lines and transformers and ensure that electricity is restored without further delay.
The appeal comes as public dissatisfaction continues to grow, with residents and business owners threatening mass protests if the situation remains unresolved. Several affected citizens have recently used local radio stations across Bong County to express their frustrations and demand action from both JEP and LEC.
The Government of Liberia officially electrified Zowienta and neighboring communities in February this year through the West African Power Pool project, a development that was widely celebrated by residents.
However, community members, including Arthur Keyee, Jerry Kollie, Robertson Cooper, and others, say the excitement was short-lived. According to them, electricity was available for only about two weeks before the communities were plunged back into darkness.
Residents revealed that many households and business operators purchased electricity credits, some spending as much as US$15, believing they would finally benefit from stable power service.
“We were happy because this was the first time our community had electricity. Many of us spent our hard-earned money to recharge our meters, but now we have been left in darkness for months,” one resident lamented.
When contacted, Jungle Energy Power General Manager Aleyou Keita acknowledged the outage but maintained that the issue is beyond the company’s operational control.
Keita explained that the affected communities are connected to a regional transmission line linking Monrovia, Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire, making the matter one that falls under the authority of the Liberia Electricity Corporation.
“This is a national concern. We have already informed LEC about the problem and are currently awaiting their intervention,” Keita said.
Kotee, who was among local business leaders that welcomed the electrification of Zowienta earlier this year, is now at the forefront of efforts to ensure that power is restored to the region. His intervention has been widely praised by residents, who view the move as an important step toward resolving a crisis that continues to affect thousands of people.
Meanwhile, pressure continues to mount on both JEP and LEC as residents insist they will proceed with planned protest actions if immediate measures are not taken to restore electricity to Zowienta and surrounding communities.
