Court jails Escom power line vandals for six years
Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) power lines vandals have been given long jail terms by Neno magistrates court after prosecutors said the power utility will spend over K600 million for the vandalised main central region line.
Neno First Grade Magistrate Daniel Dzowera then sentenced Wonderford Benard to six years imprisonment with hard laour, Oscar Benard to five years imprisonment with hard labour and Maxwell Phiri to four years imprisonment.
The three convicts were found with the vandalised Escom items and they all pleaded guilty to the charges thereby fast tracking the case.
Escom officials said it would take a lot of money and a lot of time to restore the important power line that supplies electricity from Nkula Falls to Ntcheu, Dedza and Lilongwe among other districts.
The vandalism of the power line has worsened the power blackout situation as most households now get less than four hours of power on average each day.
Malawi is currently facing prolonged power rationing due to low water levels in the Shire River, where over 90 percent of the country’s hydroelectric power is generated.
According to Escom senior transmission manager Alfred Overtone Kaponda, the vandalism at Mwengesa Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Symon in Neno District worsened power supply.
Kaponda said the damage will cost Escom K633 million (about $1million) to rectify.
He said: “Each tower costs K12 million which could cost Escom about K144 million to buy new towers since we cannot reuse these ones. But the whole reconstruction process could cost us K633 million. But we are now installing temporary poles which will cost K30 million to bring back electricity within the next four to six days.”
Let us know where the demand is for the vandalised materials. Did the vandals disclose their motive? They could be sponsored saboteurs or merely sponsored stagers of a sexy looking excuse by ESCOM or the state. Dig out a little more.
Are they not responsible for the consequences of their actions? They are causing preventable deaths! Life as a minimum is a fitting sentence. But then it all depends on what they were charged with in the first place.
Too light a sentence, Bear in mind people dying in hospitals as they cannot undergo an operation due to lack of electricity, or oxygen concentrator, incubator etc.
12 yrs please
I’m looking at the far back mountain, so bare, no vegetation what so ever, what happened to the youth week programme to dress up these formally beautiful features? did the Ngwazi buried with all the developments.? So are we wondering why nature has viciously turned against us through heavy rainy associated with stormy winds?.
Only 6 yrs for causing damage over half a billion kwacha?and how much damage has been caused to the economy?added with escom damaged ipitilira 1 trillion kwacha,life imprisonment kapena kwa shuta basi kuti ena atengere phunziro!
VERY, light sentences, these VANDALS should have been sentenced to death by firing squad. My suggestion for such serious offences is for the Malawi Government to outsource the prosecution of such cases to the Chinese authorities, they know how to handle such cases, MERCILESSLY.
6 years yachepa. Akanawapatsa 15+ years agalu amenewa.