By Austine Patrice Kachilika

Mzimba, January 12, Mana: Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) says persistent blackouts that Mzimba District has been facing have been mainly caused by understaffing and vandalism of its power supply structures in the district.

Speaking on Thursday during an engagement meeting with civil society organisations (CSOs) and other stakeholders in the district, public relations manager for ESCOM, Kitty Chingota, said inadequate staff has been a challenge in addressing faults that affect the district frequently due to vandalism. 

“Vandalism poses a greater threat to improved electricity power supply in the district. It is worrisome to hear and see that up to date some retrogressive individuals continue to steal ESCOM’s earth wires, stay wires, damage transformers and break insulation disks for unsound reasons,” said Chingota.

She said ESCOM is equally affected and concerned with persistent blackouts in the district since it affects the corporation’s revenue generation capacity.

“We understand the impact blackouts have on businesses, health and other interrelated sectors. On our part, we have lost approximately K19,700,000.00 in three months, starting from November 2023 to January 2024,” said Chingota.

Officer in-Charge for Mzimba Police Station, Sydon Mpina, called ESCOM officials to report to his office on issues about vandalism of the corporation’s property.

Chairperson for Mzimba CSOs, Christopher Milele, lauded ESCOM for engaging stakeholders on such an issue that affects the livelihoods of many in the district.

He said ESCOM has been given two weeks from January 11 to January 29, 2024 to rectify all the existing faults in the district for a smooth and uninterrupted power supply.