Gambia’s Minister of Information, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has issued a public apology to passengers of SN Brussels following an airport power outage that led to two flights being diverted to Dakar on Saturday.

However, he strongly rejected what he described as “false” claims from critics, defending the government’s actions and providing clarity on the incident.

The disruption occurred when Banjul’s airport was plunged into darkness after a power cut, forcing the flights to be rerouted.

The incident sparked outrage on social media, with many expressing concern about the state of the country’s electricity supply, which has faced ongoing challenges under the management of the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC).

Speaking on Coffee Time, Dr. Ceesay apologised to affected passengers, acknowledging the inconvenience caused.

“Our apology to those passengers who felt inconvenienced. No passenger would want to experience this, particularly on a long-distance flight, looking forward to meeting their families,” he said.

However, the minister pushed back against misinformation circulating online, including claims that the power outage had prevented the planes from landing. “That’s not the fact. It’s far from the truth,” Dr. Ceesay said.

“NAWEC was planning scheduled maintenance as part of the ongoing effort to modernise the grid. Development comes with disruptions, and sometimes, for safety reasons, NAWEC has to temporarily switch off power lines.”

Dr. Ceesay explained that although the airport had been running on backup power throughout the day, the situation became complicated around 5-6 pm, when NAWEC restored power but experienced instability.

This led to the technical issue of isolating NAWEC’s unstable power from the backup system just as the two flights were preparing to land. “The power was flickering on and off,” he noted, attributing the disruption to a technical glitch rather than a systemic failure.

He also pointed to similar incidents around the world as a comparison, referencing a major power outage at Manchester Airport in June, which affected 90,000 passengers, and another incident in the UK last year that led to the cancellation of 1,500 flights.

“These things happen worldwide, even in the most developed countries,” Dr. Ceesay said. “To claim that The Gambia is a failed state because it cannot provide consistent electricity for flights is an exaggeration.”

By Adama Makasuba