Cama sends SOS to consumers on court case

Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) has appealed to all consumers to contribute the little money they have so that it can be used to pay lawyers who are representing the consumer rights body in its electricity tariff fight.

Cama is fighting against Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) in the High Court in Lilongwe.

Cama executive director John Kapito, giving an update on the case to the media in Blantyre on Monday, said the case, which was supposed to be in court on Tuesday February 23, has been moved to a later date because the judge presiding over it, Justice Frank Mkandawire has travelled out of the country.

However, Kapito said the tariff hike issue is a case which the consumer rights body can win because Escom is increasing tariffs at a time it is not fulfilling its obligations to consumers and what it needs is just good lawyers who will need money to be paid for the services they will render.

“Now, when this case enters court, Cama does not have money. As such, we are reminding all consumers that consumer rights should also be about consumer participation; hence, we are appealing to all consumers to bring together the little that they have for us to fight this case.

“We will need good accountancy. We need good lawyers to join [the case]. This is a winnable case, but the lawyers and the accounts people cannot provide their services for free. What we will do is this; we will open an account together with the lawyers who are there at the moment.

“We are asking consumers to deposit the little they have to the account. If we lose, we will lose together. If we win, we will rejoice together. The account will be in the name of the lawyers and we will find an outside person who will be a signatory,” said Kapito.

The High Court in Lilongwe set February 23 for an inter partes hearing on whether to grant an injunction to Cama restraining Escom from increasing tariffs it implemented on January 1 2016.

The High Court’s decision came after Cama on December 31 2015 sought an injunction stopping Escom from effecting new tariffs after the company had advertised its intention to do so.

Both Escom and Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) justified the tariff increase, saying it is due to the impact of inflation and exchange rate movements.

Mera chief executive officer Raphael Kamoto backed the decision in his affidavit while Mera’s board chair Dingiswayo Jere also defended the tariff increase, saying the authority approved the hike after considering the impact of inflation and exchange rate movements.

But Cama wants the increase suspended after the Mera board in December gave a go-ahead to Escom to increase tariffs by 6.6 percent to land at K53.69 from K40.69 per kilowatt-hour in January 2016.

The increase came barely a month after Mera gave Escom another 13.7 percent increase in tariff.

According to court documents, Cama’s director for legal services, Yusuf Nthenda of Whitney and Associates, argues that the move to increase the tariffs is insensitive and ill-timed considering that in 2015, Escom failed to generate enough electricity and the country continues to be in darkness due to its inefficiencies.