Government seems to be playing a grooved song on power outages that threaten to undermine economic gains Malawi has achieved over the years.
The plans to tap electricity from neighbouring Mozambique are not new either. They have been debated in and outside the august House without any tangible results.
Just last week, President Peter Mutharika pleaded with Malawians to exercise patience, claiming that his government will end the power outages within a year. The President talked about diesel-powered generators which his government will procure to add 78 megawatts to the national grid.
He also talked of upgrading of Tedzani 3 and Nkula A power stations which will also significantly contribute to the country’s power supply.
With due respect to the President—all these interventions, including plans to start solar panels project and Kam’mwamba Coal-fired plant—are brilliant but, of course, not new.
The previous administrations have talked about these interventions, but failed to implement them. Yesterday, Escom and Egenco officials continued to sing the same old song.
Talking about these plans will not change anything. Malawians are fed up with empty promises. They want government to take bold steps and walk the talk.
Otherwise, the power outages will erode the gains that the country has made over the years and no one want this to happen.