Concerns have emerged over plans by the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) to transfer the single buyer licence for electricity generation to Power Marketing Limited (PML), with critics warning that the move could increase costs for consumers and divert resources from addressing the country’s persistent power supply challenges.
The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has formally objected to the proposal in a letter addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA), Dad Chinthambi.
The organisation’s Executive Director, Sylvester Namiwa, argued that the planned transfer is ill-timed and should be shelved.
Namiwa said Malawians are already frustrated by frequent load shedding, which he attributed to obsolete infrastructure and erratic electricity generation. He argued that ESCOM should focus its available resources on improving power generation and maintaining its ageing infrastructure rather than reviving PML.
” It is a foregone conclusion that Malawians are already frustrated with loadsheading, signalling erratic electricity generation due to obsolete infrastructure at ESCOM,” Namiwa wrote, adding that ESCOM staff have increasingly become fault attendants, leaving little room for the utility to concentrate on long-term infrastructure maintenance.
CDEDI further warned that establishing PML as a separate entity would increase costs for consumers by creating a third institution alongside the Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO) and ESCOM.
According to the organisation, the additional operational expenses would ultimately be funded through already high electricity tariffs.
The watchdog also argued that the move contradicts the government’s austerity measures and risks creating positions for politically connected individuals instead of directing resources towards improving electricity generation and distribution.
“We at CDEDI, are of the view that the current available resources should be spent on power generation and improvement of the distribution system, and not on the creation of jobs for some privileged individuals that are loyal to the ruling party,” Namiwa concluded.
