Terrible toll of Malawi’s power cuts disrupts Parliament

Business in the National Assembly was disrupted on Monday as the House was thrown into  darkness by a power outage  and the standby generator failed to start in good time.

The blackout  – 15 minutes after tea break  -attracted jeers from the opposition as some members of Parliament (MPs) flipped open their mobile phones to use as flashlights.

The power cut occurred while Minister if Homeland Security and Disaster Manaegement Nicholas  Duasi was respoinding to questions relating to a ministerial statement on the state if disaster preparedness and response for the 2018/19 season.

Other MPs  were pouring insults at the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) which is implementing extended power rationing and they were heard murmuring “just give us candles.”

Speaker of Parliment, Richard Msowoya, adjourned the House until Tuesday morning.

The blackout was symbolic of the energy crisis Malawi has been wrestling with for years.

Escom is implementing massive load shedding to consumers following reduced generation capacity resulting from low water levels in Lake Malawi and the Shire River, home to 90 percent of Escom’s hydro-electric power stations.

Parliament public relations officer Ian Mwenye said the blackout was beyond their control but the House will reconvene on Tuesday morning.