MP Kabwila asks Malawi govt to make a decisive intervention on blackouts

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Member of Parliament for Salima north-west Dr Jessie Kabwila has implored on government to make a decisive intervention on the growing problem of power outages in the country.

Speaking when she addressed reporters  upon her from Scotland where she represented Malawi in different forums in her capacity as chairperson for the parliamentary women caucus of Malawi, Kabwila said it is sad to note that the issue of blackouts is still a big problem in the country.

“When we look at how the issue of these continued blackouts has been handled it is clear that there is lack of leadership. The talking that we have resorted to is not enough, it’s time something tangible was done to bring this problem to an end,” said Kabwila.

She said now it is the time everyone in leadership positions whether in government or opposition reflected on what he has done in the face of this growing crisis.

“This problem reflects badly on us as leaders and it makes us look as if we do not care. It is like we are supporting the DPP led government to preside over this mess. The extremes we are going are unimaginable and the sooner something is done the better,” she said.

She further said it is sad to note that despite that Malawians have been complaining for so long nothing on the ground seems to be done to arrest the problem.

Commenting on her trip where she was the only representative from the Sub-Saharan region, Kabwila said her stay was in Scotland has yielded more fruits in multiple fronts as the First Minister for Scotland parliament Nichola Sturgeon has promised to visit Malawi net year.

She said during her visit to Scotland her focus was to tap into how the people there are fairing in the promotion of women representation and retention in leadership positions.

“We have to swiftly move to an understanding that gender equality should not be regarded as a favour to women but something they rightly deserve,” she said.

President Peter Mutharika on Wednesday morning at 10:20 AM invaded ESCOM Headquarters offices in Umoyo House on 5th Floor where he stormed into an ESCOM and EGENCO management meeting, possibly to demand answers as to why there is a never-ending powercut and blackouts in the country.