KEY POINTS
- GALA has set June 19 as its deadline before launching a nationwide protest over power outages.
- The group says NAWEC’s own statement exposed chronic failures in planning and energy management.
- Businesses, students and health facilities are suffering daily from Gambia’s prolonged electricity crisis.
The patience of Gambians with their electricity crisis is running out. Now there is a date attached to it.
The Gambia Against Looted Assets, known as GALA, announced Monday that it will mobilise citizens for a nationwide protest on June 19 if power supply does not improve significantly by mid-June. The civil society group put the government and the National Water and Electricity Company directly on notice, saying promises are no longer enough.
“June 19 is a deadline for accountability,” GALA said in its statement. “The government and NAWEC must act now or face the collective voice of Gambians demanding change and responsible leadership.”
NAWEC’s own explanation made the case against it
GALA did not just react to the outages. It turned NAWEC’s own public statement into evidence. The group argued that NAWEC’s admission of heavy dependence on imported electricity and the absence of adequate backup generation capacity was not a defence. It was a confession.
The group said backup systems exist precisely for emergencies. If they were unavailable during a national crisis, the institutions responsible had already failed. GALA rejected the suggestion that regional supply challenges and technical difficulties were sufficient explanations. The crisis, it said, is the product of years of poor planning, weak preparedness and inadequate management, not bad luck.
Businesses have lost money. Students have studied in darkness. Health facilities have faced repeated disruptions. Households have endured outages without a reliable schedule or clear explanation.
What GALA is demanding
The group stopped short of naming specific individuals but called for accountability from those responsible for repeated failures in the electricity sector. It urged authorities to be transparent with the public about what measures are being taken and when results can be expected.
GALA made clear it is not asking for apologies. It wants transparency, concrete solutions and a government that delivers on its obligations.
The movement said it stands with every Gambian affected by the crisis and will not accept another cycle of excuses. The June 19 deadline is fixed.
