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| Features |
| Spoils of Mtwara launch |
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by
George Ntonya, 20 December 2004
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10:49:40
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December 15, 2004 will go into the country’s history books as a day President Bingu wa Mutharika got embarrassed in front of three heads of state because of inefficiencies that have come to be regarded as a norm over the last few years.
For the first time in the country’s history the President launched a highly publicised interstate development initiative without being heard by almost 80 percent of the delegates and guests because power went off as he was about to start his speech.
While some people wished the incident never took place others described it as “a blessing in disguise.”
“This is a blessing in disguise because we have been complaining about frequent power cuts but nobody seemed to care much. I hope this will now set some heads rolling for the benefit of the nation,” said a guest at the launch of Mtwara Development Corridor at the posh Capital Hotel, where power tripped off seconds before Mutharika started his speech.
Outgoing Mozambican president Joachim Chissano, Tanzanian and Zambian presidents Benjamin Mkapa and Levy Mwanawasa had just delivered their statements, followed by a song by UDF women, when the President realised that the Ministry of Information’s public address system had gone numb because of the power failure.
“If it were the time of campaign I would have suspected sabotage,” Mutharika joked as he started his speech, presumably hoping that the power interruption would be short-lived. He was in for a shock because he wound up his 15-minute speech without the public address system and lights. He and the other presidents passed through dark corridors to get out of the hotel.
It is undisputed fact that the business community and ordinary people have been complaining about frequent power interruptions in the country. It is equally correct that nobody seems to be patriotic enough to find a lasting solution. What have come out of officials and politicians over the years are excuses and rhetoric without action.
Unless heads role in the echelons of authority surrounding the power generation system, embarrassments like the one experienced on December 15 — or worse ones should be expected, people said.
The incident deflated some people’s hopes of economic prosperity resulting from the Mtwara Development Corridor, an initiative that aims to attract foreign investors in the areas that fall under the corridor.
Some see the initiative as a “non-starter” for the country.
“This is one indication that the Mtwara Development Corridor is not for Malawi,” remarked a businessman who attended the Capital Hotel function.
“This initiative is about attracting investors who can bring about economic activities to our people, and we want those investors to put their money where they are not sure of whether they will have power all the time for production? Forget it!”
Former Minister of Energy and Mining Uladi Mussa told Parliament last year that the country had not only scared away potential investors, but also lost billions of kwacha because of power interruptions.
Like his colleagues that held the portfolio Mussa assured the nation that efforts were being made to address the situation. But a year down the line the situation has remained the same, if not worse.
Minister of Energy Davis Katsonga refused to be associated with the December 15 national embarrass saying he could not step down because the power failure was not a thing of his making.
But surely he must have known that Escom power is unpredictable and ensured alternative source of electricity was available for the President. That is what he is there for as energy minister.
Can the minister really claim to have been caught off guard after he had talked about the existence of some saboteurs who are causing blackouts to discredit the new government? Or is it not surprising that none of all the officials and technicians associated with high profile function never bothered to have a standby genset in a climate where chances of power failure were above 50 percent?
“I am very disappointed as a Malawian and minister [for energy]. This is the last thing we should expect at a function like this one,” the minister cried over the spilt milk and still talked about the saboteurs.
“We’ll be pursuing this issue to see what really happened.”
Escom’s assistant public relations officer Chikondi Chimala said in an earlier interview that the corporation removed massive deposits of sand and silt from Shire River to avert power failures during the current rainy season. Silt and debris are some of the things Escom usually blames the blackouts on. Vandalism of its equipment is another.
“Over the past year, Escom has lost over 160 transformers through vandalism. Over 100 large new projects have been waiting for transformers to be connected for over several months now,” Chimala said.
Electricity in Malawi is largely from hydro generation plants on the Shire River. This over-dependence has rendered power generation vulnerable to serious disruptions resulting from drought conditions experienced from time to time.
In 1998 Malawi and Mozambique signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Malawi to tap power from the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) through Mozambique.
The two governments mandated Escom and Mozambique’s Electricidade de Mozambique (EDM) to formulate and design the project, enter into power purchase agreements and system operating agreements as well as seek donor funding.
This, officials said, this would arrest the problem of power disruptions in the country and Malawi would have the opportunity to sell excess internally generated power. Up to now paperwork continues to take centre stage of the project.
“It is estimated that the project will be implemented over a period of not less than two and a half years, and other things being equal completion is expected early 2007,” Chamala said.
Unless Mutharika gives the responsibility of addressing the problem power interruptions to people who are action oriented, he should not blame invisible saboteurs when he encounters another experience similar to the one that took place at the launch of the much-touted Mtwara Development Corridor.
Meanwhile the Ministry of Information has the senior maintenance officer Fletcher Ndawala for allegedly failing to not going to the function without a generator.
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