Yemen Parliament Reveals Government Corruption in Electricity Sector

The Yemeni Parliament described corruption and violations in the electricity sector as a black hole that devours public money, exhausting the state and citizens due to the lack of a minimum level of electricity.

A letter from the Presidency of the Parliament to the government has stated that the government has failed miserably in dealing with the electricity crisis. The electricity deficit in the capital, Aden, was supposed to be resolved based on the 2022-2025 vision of the Ministry of Electricity, which aimed to solve the energy deficit crisis and raise the generating capacity to (635) megawatts during 2023, according to the Parliament.

However, the power generation capacity decreased to less than half of what was targeted, and the electricity deficit rose to (75%), and (80%) of the generation system became out of service.

The Parliament's report indicated that the power outages lasted 18 hours in Aden out of 24 hours, while electricity availability was only 6 hours. That made Aden in complete darkness in this hot summer.

The report indicated that this failure resulted in great suffering that directly affected the lives of citizens, especially the sick and the elderly, many of whom died due to the power outage.

The report revealed that the government spending on fuel and the purchased energy for power generation stations is estimated between 100 and 150 million dollars per month and that the budget allocated for electricity for 2023 amounted to 569 billion Yemeni riyals. The Parliament described these figures as the highest budget for electricity subsidies.

The report indicated that the bulk of the estimated amount (557 billion riyals) has been allocated, i.e. (98%) of the total general support in 2022 to suppliers.

The report stressed that the crisis is not related to the availability of resources. However, it is related to the mismanagement of the resources.

The Parliament's report accused the government of purchasing fuel through illegal procedures, saying the fuel that the government purchases does not fulfill the specifications and standards.