New ESCOM management worries with ‘nefficiency’ – Chiwaya

New management for the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) has challenged its employees that ‘inefficiencies’ in service delivery shall no longer be tolerated as the demand for energy continues to rise each passing day in the country.

Chiwaya: Malawi did not have a long term plan in the energy sector for the past 50 years

Speaking in an interview, ESCOM’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Alexon Chiwaya said the parastatal aims at complementing current on-going strides to lessen or eradicate the long standing load shedding schedules and blackouts nationwide.

“It is a well-known fact that electricity demand is rising steadily owing to the country’s rising population and industrial growth,” Chiwaya said.

“The current foresight and visionary leadership thought it wise to come up with various interventions including the installation of heavy duty stand-by diesel generators in the short term to beef up the predominantly relied upon hydro-electric power,” Chiwaya said.

Chiwaya admitted that the country did not have a long term plan in the energy sector for the past 50 years which could have ably responded to the growing urbanization which has resulted into high demand for hydro-electric energy.

“It is true that ever since the country attained independence, there has been inadequate economic investment in the energy sector to match the ever-increasing demand nationwide,” he added.

He disclosed that the corporation’s new management would strive towards ensuring that it delivers good quality services to consumers.

Chiwaya said the corporation was working around the clock to ensure that erratic or intermittent power supplies become history in the country as evidenced by the steady reduction of load shedding schedules from the previous 24 hours to as low as six or even less hours daily.

He emphasized that ESCOM shall always adhere to Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority’s monitoring and regulating mandatory powers  of ensuring that no ‘inefficiencies’ occur in its service delivery considering that energy demand continues to rise on a daily basis across the country.

Speaking in a separate interview, ESCOM’s Board Chairperson, Dr. Thomson Mpinganjira confessed that having electricity around the clock might take a little bit longer, commending the country’s leadership for its efforts in coming up with huge economic investments in the energy sector.

Mpinganjira observed no single economy globally grows without heavy economic investment in the energy sector.

“It is a must to invest in the energy sector if the country’s economy has to grow progressively. Otherwise, the country’s leadership has already shown a lot of political to invest in the sector,” Mpinganjira said.  

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :

Sharing is caring!

Follow us in Twitter
8 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
mtete
mtete
5 years ago

This is hypocrisy at it’s best, Dr. Chiwaya. Have you just realised there hasn’t been meaningful investment in the electricity sector for the past 50 year, more so having been ESCOM CEO for a number of years. May I remind you that the last power generation project was Kapichira, design works of which started in 1992/93 under MCP government. The power station was commissioned in the year 2000. There has been no power project since and please do not talk about the US funded MCA works currently in progress. It is, therefore, not correct to say there has been no… Read more »

chimanga chaponda
5 years ago

DR Chiwaya, do not pretend….. is it your first time to manage ESCOM? Why have you discovered this only now? Why did you not talk about it before..? Do not look like an angel. You are not a solution to ESCOM. You already failed in the past in the same capacity. You have no new ideas to manage escom. Just please your political masters

Dagobert
Dagobert
5 years ago

I don’t know, this leaders you praise Mr. Chiwaya to be visionary and foresight , are already arround, most of them since Kamuzu time! This fat cats and their cronies were living well on ESCOM profits! ?

opportunist
opportunist
5 years ago

I doubt. Corruption yakeyo

LIPHAVA NAMANDWA .NGOLINGOLIWA
LIPHAVA NAMANDWA .NGOLINGOLIWA
5 years ago

Don’t cheat the general public. Your organisation has a lot of political appointees, including cadets, some who can’t even read and write. They were sent as political packages. You yourself Chiwaya are a political appointee also. You are a DPP package just like most of your juniors. Your ESCOM will only perform at not more than 25%. Tribalism is what is killing your Lomwe ESCOM. Tell your State House appointor that your Lhomwe ESCOM will never resurrect again till it learns to appoint it’s staff on merit and not based on tribe. These blackouts will continue because you give too… Read more »

Cognitive DIssonance Theory
Cognitive DIssonance Theory
5 years ago

ESCOM money is used to fund political parties And we don’t want to be told that we did not invest for the last 50 government. The first government planned according to the needs of that day. Those who came after multiparty are the ones who have failed ESCOM and other parastatals who used to do better that time.

#DzukaniAmalawi
#DzukaniAmalawi
5 years ago

Dr Mpinganjira and Dr Chiwaya please refrain from advancing a political narrative out of an energy crisis and just focus on fixing and building much needed infrastructure to power Malawi for the next 50 years. Stop the blame game to hide your inability to visualise an energy abundant Malawi. A country with energy capacity of 350MW will go nowhere as far as development is concerned. National Electricity Access of an average 9% is a shame by all standards. Currently Malawi should be generating 2 GW of electricity, emanating from various sources; ESCOM/ENGECO should be planning to install additional 4 GW… Read more »

concerned citizen
concerned citizen
5 years ago

Has ESCOM only now seen the need to have supply that is more than the demand ? You as a company mandated with the provision of electricity in the country where were you in the past fifty years not to plan ahead or sensetize the government to look into this earlier on in the past years. The line ministry where were they in the past fifty years ? The so called technocrats in the line ministry what were they doing? Do you want to tell us that the previous management in ESCOM did not know what they were doing? Lack… Read more »

Read previous post:
Malawi seeks partners for airports construction to bring tourists directly to Lake Malawi

Malawi is seeking investors under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement to help in the construction of  a new airport...

Close