Summon Escom bosses on poles imports!
As I write this, Friday 7.42am, there is no power at my house in Chilomoni, Blantyre. It’s a blackout that, presumably, started at around 5am because I woke up at 6.30am already in darkness.
Of course, waking up or sleeping in darkness is not news these days. Escom has, in the past months, subjected all of us to large dosages of blackouts, something the institution rightly blames on insufficient water in Shire River.
I wrote on this column a fortnight ago agreeing with Escom that, indeed, water levels have gone down and I blamed the drop on government’s failure to implement forestry laws.
In response, Escom boss, John Kandulu, saw wisdom in my argument and sent me a link to other important literature on how low water levels are complicating electricity generation in the southern part of Africa.
In the literature, I read a telling piece about the emerging El Nino this year which will complicate even further water levels in the country’s water bodies. In the northern and eastern parts of Africa, the scare of El Nino is huge for it is associated with heavy rains that causes floods. In our part of Africa, El Nino is associated with little or erratic rains, something that cause drought and famine. Though times indeed if we do not prepare.
Though I have not met Mr Kandulu in person, his gesture gave me an impression of a knowledgeable leader who understands, with evidence, the complexities that underpin the effectiveness of the institution he leads.
In linking me to the literature, I envisioned a man who loves his country, a leader who wants Malawians to understand the challenge Escom is facing so that an informed debate precipitates.
Neither, however, did I know that the same Escom is, behind doors, killing our already dying local wood companies by importing poles from Zimbabwe. This is the least I expected from Mr Kandulu’s Escom because I regard him as an astute statesman.
Well, I have listened to Kitty Chingota, Escom publicist whose duty is to defend every decision, good or bad, which her institution makes. The bad decision of importing poles when they are abundantly available locally, cannot be, in whatever form, defended by a right thinking Malawian. If local companies, that have been supplying the poles for the past 59 years, complain of their products lying idle, and Chingota is spinning that their quality and supply is low, you know there is something terribly wrong. This is a story that needs to be thoroughly investigated. .
For the institution that, already swims in vast seas of public hatred, the least you would expect is to hear the same Escom making a fool of Malawians who are looking for jobs they are exporting to Zimbabwe.
In fact, when government tells us every day that we should ‘Buy Malawi’ and Escom becomes the first to publicly defy and mock the call as nonsense, we know it is time governemnt intervened. This is why I want President Peter Mutharika to summon Mr Kandulu and his team to explain why they are depleting the country’s thin forex base and also sending our jobs to Zimbabwe. We cannot, as a nation, continue to smile at such a glaring pack of nonsense. No way!
For Mr Kandulu I still respect, I hope he we will not stop talking about El Nino scare. We will continue to raise the voice of El Nino and take it to all corners that matter. But for the time being, his team should explain the poles importation. The explanation Chingota does not make sense. We are a thinking nation tired of mediocrity and Escom, which is always keeping us in darkness, should be the last to promote such. Thanks.
