In a heartfelt open letter to His Excellency President Adama Barrow, Karantaba Wollof born, Mustapha Sallah, praised the government’s efforts in expanding electricity access to rural communities in Sami District, Central River Region (CRR).
Sallah, in the letter, reflected on his upbringing in the rural community, recounting the hardships he faced during his childhood days, when electricity was nonexistent in the village.
“Only a few compounds had small solar systems, mainly used to charge mobile phones or watch television. Many nights, while studying, sleep would quietly take over, and before realizing it, the candle would burn through our books and notes.”
Recalling a bitter experience one of his colleagues had gone through while preparing for the Gambia Basic Education Examination Certificate (GABECE), leading to the destruction of his study materials.
“Experiences like these made learning unnecessarily difficult and risky for many students in rural communities,” Sallah said.”
“During the holy month of Ramadan, everyone longed for cold drinking water. However, because most of it was brought in from Senegal, it was expensive, often sold at D60, a price many families could not afford on a daily basis.”
He noted that President Barrow had transformed lives, restored dignity, and opened doors to opportunities that once felt impossible for rural communities like mine.719 communities have currently benefited from Gambia’s nationalwide rural electrification project.
The project forms part of the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Access Project (ECOREAP), funded by the World Bank with a $66 million grant to The Gambia.
The initiative aims to expand electricity access to 395 rural and peri-urban communities across the country, connecting an estimated 35,000 households and 425,000 people to the national grid.