The country’s sole power utility body, Electricity Supply Commission of Malawi ( ESCOM) has today launched its long awaited Electricity Amendment Act of 2024, with a call for stakeholders to join hands in curbing the vandalism and theft of its properties.
Speaking in an interview in Blantyre during the launch, the chief executive officer for the commission, Kamkwamba Kumwenda expressed concern with the rising cases of vandalism and theft of the company’s materials.
Kumwenda said the company is currently losing an excess of 2 billion Malawi kwacha every year due to vandalism and theft of its properties.
” This is derailing our interventions to connect to a larger populace because we use the resources intended to connect to other new customers to replace the vandalised materials,” he said
However, Kumwenda said the amendment of the new act will help to curb down the malpractice as it has some stiffer penalties for the offenders.
” Our research reveals that the penalties in the old electricity act were not stiffer. People would vandalise and steal our properties anyhow because they know that they will pay the penalties easily,” he said
Kumwenda added that the new act has also revised the penalties for the ex employees and the current employees who will be found conniving with the communities to steal the company’s property.
According to the amendment Act, Mk150 million with 30 years of hard labour will be imposed for employees aiding the malpractice.
Kumwenda said the commission will work with the scrap metals associations in the country to help curb the malpractice, saying most of the offenders sell the stolen materials to the scrap metals businessmen.
” Most of the stolen items are used to make kitchen utensils. So we are also planning to relocate our property out of reach of the communities, rebrand them for easy identification, involve the security systems and embark on anti vandalism and theft campaigns with stakeholders inorder to curb the malpractice,” he said
Kumwenda said the theft of copper is on the increase among others, saying it makes the company to lose about 900 US dollars per year.
In a seperate interview, chief justice, Rezzine Mzikamanda assured that the judiciary systems will work with the company to ensure that the cases are prosecuted timely and accordingly.
Mzikamanda said the judicial systems of the country were very crucial in making sure that the amended Act is implemented.
” Escom is a business entity which aims at making profits as well. So it is so said that it is losing huge sums of money to vandalism and thefts. This money could have gone along the way to upscale their operations,” he said
Mzikamanda said there was a need to change the legal frameworks so that the penalties were stiffer with increased enforcement measures.
Commissioner Noel Kayira said the law enforcers will also make sure that it introduces other measures for the smother implementation of the new amendment Act 2024.
“Knowledge is power. We therefore make sure that our offices are well equipped knowledge about this Act for the smother implementation,” he said.
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