Escom to punish whistleblower

The Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) has said it will punish the employee who revealed about the K1.9 billlion fuel theft.

ESCOM director of admnistration and human resources Dafter Namandwa said this during elections for ESCOM workers union executive commiteee in Mponela.

Namandwa said the employee who revealed about the theft contravened the institution’s rules and regulations.

According to Namandwa, revelations of the theft of three million litres of fuel have jeopardised investigations into the fuel theft.

He therefore warned that the company will punish any employee found to have spilled the beans.

Vice President Saulos Chilima first revealed about the theft at a United Transformation Movement (UTM) rally in Blantyre over a week ago.

Last week, ESCOM spokesperson Innocent Chitosi confirmed that fuel meant for generators was stolen at the company. The utility supplier’s spokesperson said G4S security guards, Aggreko technicians and an ESCOM stores clerk connived to steal the fuel between January and June this year.

ESCOM only realised something was wrong in June when the company established that it was buying a lot of fuel but not generating the required power.

“We [ESCOM], therefore, deployed our team to investigate the issue and discovered that there was a syndicate involving some Aggreko technicians, fuel tanker drivers, security guards and our stores clerk.

“This led to the arrest of a tanker driver from Rashy Motors, three G4S security guards and our stores clerk in Lilongwe. The suspects are currently on bail,” he said.

According to Chitosi, ESCOM has told Aggreko to account for the lost 3.8 million litres of fuel and has since introduced measures to prevent more loss of fuel.