Repercussions of Poor Electricity Services on Community Peace in Aden

 

Since 2015, Yemen has been plunged in large-scale war which has left destructive effects on the community, including interruption or poor provision of public services. This aggravated suffering of citizens and produced community conflict, affecting community fabric and widening gaps of community conflicts. In light of this, this paper addressed community conflicts resulting from lack of or poor provision of electricity services in Aden, which has been worsening for over a decade and adversely affecting citizens. The lack of or poor provision of electricity services is still a matter of concern as its effects are expanding in the local communities in Aden and might extend to other governorates that suffer from the same situation. This paper discussed the irregularities resulting from mismanagement and frequent interruption of electricity services and turning into community conflicts. It also addressed the roles of community committees in mitigating conflicts between locals as well as the role of the electricity corporations in improving the service. This paper shed light on the successful Kenyan experience that could be drawn upon to address the problem. 

This paper concluded several procedural recommendations for the roles of electricity corporation, police stations, international organizations and community committees to contribute to mitigating the effects of community problems until the problem of interruption and poor electricity service is radically solved by the government in a manner that mitigates conflict factors and bolster community cohesion in Aden. The recommendations also included providing a role for the private sector as a key development partner; supporting electricity service in the governorate; adopting community-based solutions to mitigate relevant community conflicts; shifting the government attention to building power plants rather than purchasing power; and reinstating power hot lines of the electricity corporation in Aden.