Augustine Sorie-Sengbe Marrah, a prominent social advocate, has recently expressed his concerns regarding the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) in Sierra Leone. Marrah’s main apprehensions revolve around taxation and service quality challenges associated with the ongoing insufficient electricity supply.
EDSA, a vital electricity agency in Sierra Leone, has been facing issues with inconsistent electricity supply, particularly in Freetown, in recent times. Marrah has drawn attention to the perplexing relationship between taxation policies and the quality of services provided.
Marrah questions the rationale behind raising taxes and tariffs while EDSA is striving to reduce blackouts and brownouts. He emphasizes that in countries where leaders prioritize the well-being of their citizens, higher taxes often result in more efficient and improved public services. As an example, he points to Switzerland, ranked as the top country on the 2022 Human Development Index (HDI), which imposes high personal taxes but offers its citizens a wide range of high-quality public services.
In Sierra Leone, however, the situation appears to be the opposite, with citizens burdened by excessive taxes while receiving inadequate or no services. This raises concerns that these taxes might be primarily funding the extravagant lifestyles of politicians rather than benefiting the people they are elected to represent.