Police used tear gas to disperse protesters who gathered overnight in several locations across The Gambia, including near President Adama Barrow’s official residence, to protest prolonged power cuts.
In and around the capital, Banjul, protesters burned tyres and erected barricades while shouting “Barrow must go!”, according to residents and a witness.
In Farato, protesters gathered outside the residence of Vice President Mohammed B.S. Jallow and destroyed banners at an office of the ruling National People’s Party.
The protests followed electricity outages, with some residents reporting blackouts lasting up to 48 hours, amid growing frustration with the government ahead of the presidential election expected in December, in which Barrow is seeking a third term.
In a televised address on Tuesday night, Barrow acknowledged the hardship caused by the power cuts.
“I know that the fans have stopped turning, children work in the dark, mothers throw away stale food, and the heat is unbearable by day and by night,” he said.
Barrow attributed the electricity crisis to record demand, failures of major generating units and seasonal conditions affecting hydropower production.
Information Minister Ismaila Ceesay apologised to those affected, saying the government recognised the frustration and hardship caused by the outages.
Barrow, who visited facilities of the National Water and Electricity Company Ltd. (NAWEC) on Tuesday, said new generators would arrive during the week and that electricity supply would be restored by the end of October.
He also said the government was in the final stage of installing an additional 24-megawatt generation machine and had awarded a contract for a 50-megawatt solar power plant.
NAWEC had earlier attributed the electricity shortage to an unexpected increase in demand during the peak period, as well as a technical incident affecting one of its major power-generating units.
The utility said the situation would require load shedding in several parts of the country.
After the protests subsided in the pre-dawn hours, young residents were seen dousing fires and clearing barricades, while traffic returned to normal in Banjul on Tuesday morning.
