Furious and martial. Head of State Michaël Randrianirina has never been more so than yesterday. Irritated by the insoluble power cuts in Toamasina, Mahajanga and Antsiranana despite purchasing generators for Jirama, the leader of the Refoundation did not mince words. He directly attacked the supplier responsible for electricity supply to these three cities. He even went further by giving the supplier one week to restore electricity. In a display of patriotism and sovereignty, the head of state was crystal clear in declaring that if this company does not want to work in Madagascar and for Malagasy people, it should pack its bags. He provided details on electricity supply to Antsiranana where the city's need is 11 MW, the partner should provide 18 MW but only delivers 3 MW. Jirama has been paying this partner the equivalent of 65 MW for years without interruption. This is far from an isolated case given that all contracts binding Jirama and its suppliers are of the same nature. Jirama pays for declared capacity, which is often at least double the actual power supplied. It is clear there is big money involved benefiting partner companies and certain Jirama executives. The head of state affirmed yesterday that contracts between Jirama and its partners must be reviewed. In 2019, former Prime Minister Christian Ntsay witnessed the situation firsthand at Ambohimanambola and attempted to revise contract clauses. Suppliers proved inflexible simply because Jirama owes them substantial sums, several years of payment arrears. To avoid total blackout, the state preferred to keep a low profile. Suppliers even went to court to counter state requisitions without success. This may be just the tip of the iceberg. In 2024, the state announced it had cleared all Jirama debts estimated at 3,000 billion ariary. The education budget had to be cut to settle this astronomical sum. Yet the problem persists. Power cuts only receded during elections or international summits. At that time, certain voices within Jirama claimed never to have seen this money. It's one of two things. Either the money left the state treasury and vanished between Antaninarenina and Ambohimanambola, or it was properly credited to Jirama's account but was not used to settle arrears. The problem is therefore financial rather than technical. In either case, the result is the same. Electricity is lacking, even in the capital. With insecurity and power cuts, everyone lives under high tension.