Malawi opposition, consumers up against Egenco, Escom over extended blackout

Main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has dubbed the accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of peddling lies following the persistent power black outs in the country and accused  Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) of duping Malawians.

MCP second secretary general Eisenhower Mkaka, writing on his Facebook page, said the government cheated Malawians that power black outs would be a thing of the past after the government procures gen sets.

Mkaka also said Egenco duped Malawians when it raised electricity tariffs from K58 to K73 per hour in order to raise money for fuel for the gensets yet the generators  are not yet in use but the government continues to collect the money.

“Egenco is duping us,” said Mkaka.

Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) chairperson John Kapito said in a radio interview Egenco is stealing from Malawians by overcharging money for the fuel when the gen sets are not yet in use.

“I think something is wrong with Egenco. The situation needs to be corrected, this is an anomaly,” said Kapito.

Responding to Mkaka’s Facebook post, Ken Msonda, who is now aDemocratic Progressive Party official accused the MCP official of labeling the president a liar, saying the Head of State  needs respect.

“I know that my brother is just new in politics. He needs to always ask us, political veterans, on how we play politics. Calling the head of state a liar will not help,” said Msonda.

There was no immediate comment from Egenco on why the company continues to collect the increased tariffs for fuel when the gen sets are not yet in use.

However, Egenco officials say the situation on black outs would improve following the government decision to increase the flow of water at Liwonde Barrage by 20 per cent, saying this would power the hydro-power stations machines.

Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) has requested Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, Water and Development to increase the level of water flow in Shire River to allow Egenco generate enough megawatts (MW) for power supply.

There request contained in the  letter, signed by the corporation’s chief executive officer Allexon Chiwaya, argues that the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development recently decided to reduce the flow of water to 110 cubic metres, a decision the corporation wants reversed until end May this year.

According to the letter, Egenco is supplying 170MW instead of 220MW from the hydro generation, creating a deficit of 50MW and leading to prolonged load shedding of 10 hours per day for domestic customers and two days per week for industrial customers.

Political commentator Emily Mkamanga blamed the two institutions for opting for a short-term solution to ending blackouts.