Escom Woes Need Cooperation

The recent article that was carried in one of the local dailies that the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom), has changed its slogan from “Power all day, every day” to “Towards power all day, everyday,” makes for a good reading.
Needless to say, the abandoned slogan did not reflect the reality on the ground. And in fact, it was mockery and utter torture to the minds of many Malawians.
How could Escom boasts of giving out “power all day, every day” when it is common knowledge that there are blackouts everyday, sometimes all day?
It was little wonder that the Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) took Escom to court for failing to live up to its slogan. Simply put, it was an embarrassing catchphrase for Escom and an inflammatory buzzword for the consumers.
However, that Escom is failing in its mandate to efficiently generate, transmit and distribute electricity, is now well understood.
It is now an established fact that Escom, the country’s second biggest parastatal after ADMARC, is not performing efficiently largely because is swimming in a pool of problems.
As the 2009 Report on the Performance Analysis of Escom clinches it all, Escom now “is one of the loss making parastatals,” and one cannot agree more.
For one thing, Escom has huge debts to settle, a consequence of mismanagement, greed and irresponsibility on the part of Escom workers.
For example, at the time when the Malawi’s sole electricity company is swimming in financial woes, the whole nation got shocked when one of the local papers revealed that Escom had spent a whopping K80 million in organizing a Christmas banquet for its senior workers last year.
Of course there is nothing wrong in organizing a once in a while party for workers who have toiled the whole year, but spending such a huge amount of money especially when the company has got cash flow problems, is both disgusting and scary. In fact, it begs the question; is Escom really cash-strapped?
Of even hard to fathom are media statements coming from Escom’s boss Peterson Zembani that Escom will also hold the same kind of feast this year. What a pity!
Not long ago, Escom proposed a 54 per cent tariff hike to the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) arguing that it was and still is cash-strapped and cash-starved. Is Escom not missing something here?
Surely, one would be tempted to think that Escom is taking Malawians for granted. Another problem, and perhaps the main one, bedeviling Escom, is that of corruption.
Nowadays, it takes a whole year after paying the electricity connection fee for Escom to connect a house with power. Reason? Many Escom workers want applicants to bribe them first before they connect electricity. Often times, they give a pretext that the equipment for planting electricity is out of stock. But one wonders how the equipment is readily available after giving them a dosage of corruption. Very unfortunate!
However, the blame for electricity woes should not squarely be put on Escom. Calling a spade by its name, the government also has a fair share of the blame. How?
Several government’s departments and ministries owe Escom huge debts amounting to billions of Kwachas. It appears these branches of government take Escom for granted since it is also a government company. They thus use electricity willy-nilly without settling the money which is billed to them. So how is Escom going to improve its operations if it is meeting these hurdles? Surely, this should change.
Another problem that has also affected Escom badly is the vandalism and theft of Escom property such as oil from transformers. The implications of these sick conducts on Escom do not need to be overemphasized here.
It is, therefore, important to realize that there is more to Escom’s woes than meets the eye. It is for this reason that there should be cooperation from all quarters, if Escom’s problems are to be brought to a grinding halt. Changing the slogan alone should not be the final step “towards power all day, every day”. I think the change of the slogan should be taken as a point of departure as the name puts itself. Cooperation essentially means the act of working together towards the ending of the perennial power cuts that are affecting the economic development of this country.
However, the government needs to take a leading role. All debts that it owes to Escom must be settled forthwith. At the same time, it should also instill sanity in Escom workers by authorizing all expenditures and prosecuting all alleged cases of corruption and abuse of office.
It is therefore surprising and unfortunate that despite parliament passing the Public Finance Management act in 2003, which spells penalties for the misuse of public money or property for controlling officers, no one has been prosecuted on matters pertaining to the same. To this end, we need the cooperation of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the police to help in instilling fiscal as well as management discipline in Escom.
It should also be down to Escom to make sure that all the monies that the government owes to Escom should be recovered and settled. Escom should also put in place ways of collecting money from government without problems. For example, in this digital era, Escom should have introduced the pre-paid system by yesterday.
Furthermore, all hoodlums who vandalize Escom property should be reported, brought to book and be given stiffer penalties. This, I think, requires the cooperation from the police, judiciary and ordinary Malawians.
Finally, it should be borne in mind that energy is a very important sector for economic growth and development. It is of great importance therefore that we band our heads and work together as a country to promote this sector and create a reliable and a sustainable energy supplier.