Church and Society programme director Moses Mkandawire on Friday described diesel-powered generators installed by Electricity Generation Company (Egenco)as a raw deal.
The head of the CCAP Livingstonia Synod said this in an interview Church and Society Programme after pre-budget consultations in Mzuzu on Friday,
No power to stun: Egenco’s 6MW generators in Mzuzu
Egenco installed three gensets in Mzuzu, each producing two megawatts (MW).
The six-megawatt plant in Luwinga Township on the northern part of the city was part of the power producer’s desperate efforts to inject 36MW to the grid to reduce blackouts.
However, the country is still groping in the dark for steady power supply as electricity rationing continues.
Mkandawire demanded to know why the country is still experiencing power interruptions after the commissioning of the generators.
He stated: “We were told that the generators would largely reduce the power challenges, but what we have seen on the ground is that we still have power challenges.
“We also have been told that it is expensive to run them. What happened prior to the purchase of the generators? Did we do proper cost-benefit analysis?”
The activist questioned lack of transparency and accountability in the importation of generators.
President Peter Mutharika and Egenco chief executive officer William Liabunya promised last November that prolonged blackouts would be contained by December 31 2017.
According to Liabunya, Egenco earmarked every generator to run four hours a day from Monday to Friday.