Malawians at 50 still in darkness: ‘Electricity is seen as for well to do people’

Only nine percent of Malawi’s population has access to electricity, a development Minister of Energy Ibrahim has described  as sad and worrisome considering the country will be celebrating 50 years of independence and 20 years of democracy.

By now, according to the minister, the majority of Malawians should have had access to electricity to be at par with other african countries.

“This year the country will celebrate 50 years of independence and 20 years of democratic dispensation. Yet only 9 percent of our people have access to electricity and Malawi’s electrification rate is one of the lowest in Africa,” said Matola on the sidelines of the commissioning of Kapichira Phase II project last Friday.

He further said electricity should is and should not be seen as a luxury, observing it is the cheapest source of energy and cleaner than other available alternatives.

“Malawians have a perception that electricity is for well to do people,” he observed.

Matola also disclosed that as a way of increasing electrification rate, government will this year connect power to more rural growth centres and that the project has already been rolled out in some areas.

The Kapichira Phase II Hydroelectric Power Project has added a total of 64 mega watts (MW) of power to the national grid and the total output from Kapichira Power Station is now 128MW.

With this addition, the total ESCOM generation capacity is now at 351MW against a forecast demand of 350MW.

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