Energy in Gabon: Did General Oligui Waste $3 Million a Month on Useless Boats?
$3 million monthly energy promise, but zero watts on the meterThe deafening silence of the Ministry of Energy shows the powerlessness of the State in the face of a contract that the country may never be able to break without heavy penalties. $3 million per month and no electricity supplied. A catastrophic situation. #Gabon #Energy pic.twitter.com/gmCeauWihQ
— Moi MAKAYA (@Moi_Makaya) December 3, 2024
Brice Oligui Nguema, self-proclaimed supreme manager of a chaotic transition, has just offered the Gabonese a new political-energy soap opera worthy of a bad low-budget movie. While the contract with Karpowership (KPS) continues to bleed the state coffers to the tune of $3 million each month, it seems that no one at the top of the state knows where the switch is to turn on the light.
Worse still, these expensive electricity-generating boats remain desperately docked, waiting for someone to order fuel oil, a mission that the SEEG (Société d’Énergie et d’Eau du Gabon) has still not deemed urgent. Result? The Gabonese contemplate their umpteenth energy impasse with a mixture of indignation and resignation.
Oligui and his Minister of Energy, true virtuosos of procrastination, are trying as best they can to save face. They are suspending the KPS connection work, arguing that "this does not validate the contract". A great excuse to mask a glaring incompetence.
Diplomacy or blackmail: when Turkey puts its foot in it
On November 27, during a meeting at the presidency, the Turkish ambassador did not mince his words. Faced with this management described as "catastrophic", he waved the threat of diplomatic consequences. But instead of responding with solid arguments, Oligui and his clique preferred to offer the spectacle of a disorganized power, incapable of navigating between national interests and international obligations.The emerging diplomatic tensions between #Turkey and #Gabon reveal the CTRI's amateurism and incompetence in managing state affairs. This is a scathing admission of a transitional government incapable of managing its partners. https://t.co/4mQJmZkuZG
— Moi MAKAYA (@Moi_Makaya) December 3, 2024
The truth is simple: Brice Oligui threw himself headlong into a contract whose implications he was probably unaware of, trapping the country in a financial abyss from which it will be difficult to escape without paying heavy penalties. In the meantime, KPS is playing the master of the game, comfortably ensconced in its role as misunderstood victim.
Amateurism that flirts with irresponsibility
How can we explain such obstinacy in pursuing such a shaky path? KPS assures that its technology surpasses that of AGREKKO, another competing company, but nothing justifies the vagueness and opacity surrounding this file.
Oligui, who had promised transparency and responsible governance during his coup, seems to have lost his script along the way.
The silence of the Ministry of Energy and the absence of any concrete decision show one thing: this state led by Oligui is closer to a drifting boat than an effective government. And while the country is sinking, the energy bill continues to climb.
The deafening silence of the Ministry of Energy shows the powerlessness of the State in the face of a contract that the country may never be able to break without heavy penalties. $3 million per month and no electricity supplied. A catastrophic situation. #Gabon #Energy pic.twitter.com/1tjXxI6Oex
— Moi MAKAYA (@Moi_Makaya) December 3, 2024
