By James Innocent
Yei River County in Central Equatoria state of South Sudan is grappling with a power supply issue, as the county’s electricity usage exceeds its capacity.
Power shortage caused significant disruptions at the main hospital (Yei Civil Hospital), forcing medical personnel to use torches for surgery.
County Commissioner Aggrey Cyrus Kanyikwa who visited the hospital to assess the situation said some medical equipment were not able to be used due to the lack of sufficient power supply to run the machines.
“The capacity of power need is beyond the capacity of our county and probably the problems the hospital is mainly facing is only power because the experts say sometimes, they use torches for surgery and some of the huge machines require a lot of power to supply them in order to run,” he said.
He appealed to the state government to support the hospital with electricity, as there is inadequate installation of solar and generators that require new batteries and fuel.
As part of the county interventions, Commissioner Aggrey pledged to provide 400 liters of fuel every month to support the generator, as the county authorities look for new solar batteries for the hospital.
Acting medical director Dr. Joseph Khemis acknowledged that the county has power challenges, but is happy for the commissioner’s visit to ensure services run effectively.