Mutharika storms ESCOM headquarters during board meeting
President Arthur Peter Mutharika quietly sneaked into Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) headquarters’ offices which are housed on the 5th Floor of Umoyo House in Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre for a surprise visit Wednesday morning.
The Malawi leader invaded the premises unannounced with business as usual and he sneaked in without the customary presidential fanfare catching people within the precincts of Umoyo and surrounding areas unawares.
A senior ESCOM official speaking to Nyasa Times on anonymity said: “The president just showed up at Umoyo House on 5th Floor and marched into ESCOM offices. It was both scary and dramatic as no one never expected that to happen. Heads rolled and the president appeared somewhat livid and unhappy.”
Added the ESCOM official: “This is the first time for a sitting president to storm into ESCOM offices unannounced in history. The look on his face tells it all. He is not happy with the electricity supplying outfit and he surely needs answers and thorough explanations as to what is really going on.”
Mutharika’s visit to the embattled electricity suppliers, ESCOM is believed to be an executive clampdown on the country’s most inefficient utility service provider whose incessant power cuts continue to annoy the country’s populace.
No roads in the city, including the Victoria Avenue, were closed as is the case whenever the president is travelling within the City.
Publicity stunt
Some people, however, are not buying Mutharika’s ‘surprise visit’ to ESCOM as a genuine bolt from the blue visit but just a rhetorical publicity stunt saying the visit was prearranged.
James Gondwe, who works at Umoyo House said: “Surprise visit? What surprise visit? Please give us a break; we all know it was a pre-arranged meeting. What kind of a surprise visit is this that the president is going about carrying the presidential coat of arms?”
“This, to me is nothing but a publicity stunt, he just wants to bluff Malawians and make them believe that he is doing something about the ongoing electricity problems,” said a seemingly irate Gondwe.
Ellen Mvulayagunda who also works in Umoyo House it is surprising that national and presidential flags were all well-erected at a surprise and emergency meeting or visit.
She said: “We don’t need surprise visits, emergency management meetings attended by the president, we need electricity and the only thing the president and his government must do is find and provide resources into the energy sector and ensuring that as a country we have the capacity to provide sufficient power to the people.”
“The president just wants to be seen to be doing something about the never-ending electricity problem in the country and he knows that perception is key in politics but it is a little too late now. We all know that these meetings do not yield any tangible results,” said Mvulayagunda.
During the purported surprise visit, the Malawi leader crept and leapfrogged into a closed-door joint ESCOM and EGENCO management meeting at 10:20 AM.
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kkkkkkk every top official in Malawi is a comedian sure. surprise visit ? you were busy painting the building the whole week and you say you were taken by surprise? am happy the by election results where MCP emerged victors has shaken sleeping guys.
Why so much negativity surrounding the presidential visit? He is the Head of State and ESCOM is a parastatal organization. Should the president not show interest in what the organization is doing about the on-going power challenges? Are we addicted to negativity? Why can we not see good in some events? Whether pre-arranged or otherwise, its neither here nor there. What matters is the the motive behind the action – to understand what the ESCOM Board are doing to curb the power problem in the country.
Kkkkkkk nde mwati mbendera zaboma zinayikidwa a president akudikira mgalimoto? Kkk this was a well prepared suprise visit ndithu
Ya a Malawi muli ndi chinthu choti ndi chabwino ngati? No wonder dziko lathu ndi lovutika. President walakwa chani when it was prearranged or surprise visit is that a problem if the problem can be solved.
Mr president if u really care about your people why cant you just advice escom to include the state house line on the power rationing program…. For solidarity sake
A one term president you will become, whether you surprise yourself with surprised visits to defunct ESCOM or not its on your back and trolling you.
There is no any aspect to signify that this was a surprise visit, it was rather prearranged!!!!! KOMA ALHOMWE NDE HAVE INFESTED BIG STATUTORY CORPS EEEEEEISH!!! ITS HIGH TIME WE START WORKING ON ERADICATING THEM
Pathetic is an under statement.
I do understand to some extent the predicament Escom has found itself in although this is a problem of our own making. We tackle things as though tomorrow does not exist. Take for example the road works going on along M1 road between Bunda roundabout and Biwi. What is being done is resurfacing the road and shoulders. This is not going to solve the problem of traffic congestion. Notwithstanding the number of vehicles already in the country, every day hundreds of vehicles are entering the country. A forward looking approach would be to upgrade the road to dual lane. Despite his autocratic leadership style, late Dr Kamuzu Banda was futuristic. He always had an idea what the future would present. He would have increased the electricity generating capacity of Escom (Egenco) to meet the growing demand of electricity. In case someone here is doubting, just to show how futuristic Kamuzu was, look at the road connecting Lilongwe Old Town to City Centre passing through Lilongwe Nature Sanctuary. The bridge at Sanctuary is dual lane and was built many years ago by Kamuzu Government. He knew there would be need in future to upgrade the road to dual lane. Minibus drivers try to remind motorists and government that the bridge is dual lane by using the unused lane during peak hours. All successive governments after Kamuzu needed to do was to construct the road to dual lane, but they completely ignored it. All they know to do is deep their filthy fingers in the national purse.
Given our failures as a country, it is understandable Escom cannot provide electricity 24/7. What I cannot take is Escom inability to properly load-shed. This level of incompetence at Escom is beyond my imagination and I am surprised someone is still keeping his job when he is failing to deliver what he was employed for. You just can’t let people have no electricity the whole day, bring electricity around 11.00 p.m. or 12.00 midnight and by 3.00 a.m. you have already switched off. Who is Escom trying to fool? Is it just to fill their records that at least they provided electricity? God save this country.
hahahaha this is laughable. Why do we have presidential and national flags in the boardroom if he stormed the meeting without the knowledge of ESCOM and govt officials. Stop playing games Mr President.
New Govt of MCP is coming to pull out Malawians from mad of ESCOM power cuts, madzi abibi etc. We are more than ready to punish you on the ballot. Fire all cabinet ministers from your govt and hire people from mighty MCP to assist for the remaining 12 months. Otherwise your govt will not reach that fire will collapse and you ought to resign.
Governance experts, please school me on whether non board members are allowed to attend board meetings? Is this meeting not null and void? When did HE become a board member? He was a stranger in the chamber!!!!!
hahaahha……I like your line of thinking……law scholars need to come in
Kkkkk
The President packs parastatal boards like those of ESCOM with Mulhakho wa Alhomwe and other political appointees, and he still expects the boards to perform? All four recognizable faces in the picture are Lhomwe – APM himself, Muhara, Ligoya and Mwapasa.
Ever since the UDF days, ESCOM has been used as a cash cow for the party in power. They procure costly items which ESCOM is not going to use. The idea is simply to pour money into the pockets of board members and the party in power. Who has forgotten how Mrs Betty Mahuka quit her job as Finance Manager?
Making ESCOM and ENGECO tick should start with appointing professional rather than political boards and allowing transparent procurement practices to take root at both companies. However, this is not going to happen as long as DPP is in power…the temptation of diverting huge amounts of money into personal and party coffers is just too big to resist.
Next Parastatal to watch is NOCMA putting ceo with no masters degree in the name of lomwe
I suggest EGENCO be independent and Govt should invite more investor in power generation
Nkhawa yanga ili pa mkazi ndi mwana. Ndukamba pano ine ndili ku ntchito kudalira magetsi a Gen set pamene kunyumba
kwanga chizimireni cha dzulo magetsi.
Utsogoleri wako ndiotani iwe Malawi?
Just another publicity stunt by the president, too little too late, A surprise visit with flags and all really? Who are you fooling ? Tatopa is the word on the street, where have you been?
Yamtutumusa 6-1…
Waiopa ..
So what did the president say during his so called surprise visit? It is amazing that the head of state is quiet on the electricity crisis in the country which is negatively affecting investor confidence and lives of ordinary people in the country. It is unbelievable to see the government treat this as business as usual. Does DPP really want to win in 2019? Malawians though known to be docile and regionalistic, this time around DPP will be punished through the ballot box. It will be massive and irrigable.
Ain’t buying this grand standing I want electricity in my house my hood my Lilongwe am tired of these blackouts…doesn’t escom or stupid egenco have a strategic plan why are they still connecting people to the grid whilst they know the pot is still the same… Stupid escom stupid egenco FxxxYouAll
The problem started with politician from multiparty politics taking the monies from ESCOM, WAter Boards and other commercial statutory bodies for endless cammpaigns.
Malawi Malawi Malawi….We are certainly know now that as a nation we cant solve our own problems.
Well done bwana president, I just wanted to suggest that the directors, chief executive and her clue at the top might not be involved in this. The people who might be responsible are the engineers, technicians and control room staff. I believe these people are recieving something from other camps to turnish your image. We have power problems ofcourse but not to this extent. Mr president, it has never been like this before. Use expatriets bwana president.
Maganizo ombwambwana ngati amenewa ndi omwe adzakuchotseni mu Boma 2019. Who is sabotaging this failing Govt? is it not the same DPP cronies who keep siphoning monies from public companies such as ESCOM? Muthu, who are you trying to fool here? The bare truth is that your President has failed this country big time. And this running around will not do much to change the failure tag of this President. Just prepare to hand over power peacefully to MCP in 2019. The writing is on the wall. It is up to you DPP sycomphants to take note of it or ignore it at your own peril. Malawians will surely punish DPP in 2019. Mark my words. The results of the October 17 by-elections are a precursor to the massive fall of this clueless Govt.
I do not think a surprise visit will stop blackouts. Electricity is not generated in offices. It is used in offices. Wamva pinyolo. Egenco and ESCOM suffer a lot of un due political interference. Kuba pompo. Shame.
Surprise visit? Ukunamiza ndani? This mere public screen saving. Wagwa nayo pitara
Fire Perks Ligoya, the guy is stupid and stinking corrupt – his foiled Geneset deal is what is killing malawians now
Am sorry to say that this impromptu is not going to change anything because the current electricity problems that Malawi is facing are beyond ESCOM’s and EGENCO’s operational capacity at the moment.Currently,Malawi does not have power generation plants that can meet the demands of the country and this problem is further worsened by the low water levels that our lake and shire river are having due to environmental forces which has greatly affected power generation because EGENCO has HYDRO POWER PLANTS only as its major means of power generation(98% of electricity is hydro).Proposals to diversify have been there for year but nothing is happening.Decisions to construct power stations does not come from EGENCO or ESCOM,they come from government through the support of ministry of energy in coordination with ministry of finance and other other relevant ministries.Capital hill knows all these things that its up to them to initiate and support construction of new powerstations that run on other fuels not hydro and also to promote offgrid electricity where mini grids can be established in our communities parallel and independent to the national grid,this can end the current problems we facing.Otherwise if the energy ministry or the government is general fails to promote construction of new power stations that are not water dependent and also if it does not promote off grid electricity,the situation will worsen further.
our country is in the hands of worthless idiot.APM is happy being called president but has nothing to offer as leader.what makes matters worse is that he is surrounded by dead wood.he himself knows that the people around him are not performers but he cant fire them because he has not courage to do so.for example grace chiumia is useless and incompetent,she does not deserve to be cabinet but today she is still.same escom and egenco are in the hands of incompetent managers but the president is failing to fire them.fire top managemennt people will start working.
Kkkkkkk zapweteka
Tiyeni nawoni anyamata amenewa. a president tatopa ndi nthano zawozo. Heads must roll now now now mr president.
Business unusual. This is good Mr. President. way to go
Grace Obama Chiumia style. Frustrated with the anger of Malawians. A 5:1 loss on by elections has added the frustration.
Now the President can see that he is sleeping on duty.
Let’s see how Chakwera will transform Malawi after 2019 election.
Whilst this is commendable-what did the impromptu visit achieve? If anything, will it be sustainable? More importantly, when will party politics stop interfering in smooth operations of these parastatals in the country.? When these parastatals are left free to run and make their own decisions without interference, then the head of state can mete out appropriate punishment to those that are at the center of misdirecting them and mismanagement.
I don’t believe this type of management is sustainable. Given the level of decay and breakdown of institutions, how many will the President visit in the country?My additional question is to find out when the President will visit Central Medical Stores or Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital to see the laxity and theft going on there. It is systems and competent people that strengthen and run institutions. You cannot run a country by being a school captain that whips at will. Sort out the way you select these people and sanction them when they do wrong.
As a DPP supporter, I know that these things will cost us votes in 2019.Malawians are tired with lax leadership. I wish the President well but he should learn to timely punish when appropriate.
Zoona azimayi kuchigayo kumapita usiku zili ku Salima kuyaka 10pm kuzima 3am nkumati zikuyenda, nkadakhala mmapiko nkadauluka kunka kutali osabweranso
Thanks to people of Nsanje Lalanje and Blantyre Malabada, you have made history in our Country for waking up our President from sleeping, You guys you have done something in the history of Malawi. you have shaken Malawi.
Let’s built our Malawi