Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) Limited has appealed for assistance from the public to curb vandalism of its infrastructure that is costing the parastatal about K3 billion annually to replace.
Between October 2025 and March this year, Escom said it has recorded 138 cases that left 40 transformers and other equipment such as copper cables and coils, high-voltage cable lines, wooden poles, bolts and tower members vandalised.
In April 2026, five transformers were vandalised, three of them in Lilongwe and one each in Blantyre and Chiradzulu while this May, one transformer has been ransacked in Zomba and yesterday, another was vandalised at Kamuzu View on the Blantyre-Chikwawa Road.
A transformer costs around K20 million.
Describing the situation as a crisis out of control, Escom chief public relations and communications officer Pilirani Phiri in an interview yesterday put the cost of replacement at K3 billion.
He said: “The K3 billion represents only the hardware—the copper coils, transformers and conductors. It does not account for the billions more lost in unserved energy, prolonged business closures and maintenance costs.
“These are precious public resources that could otherwise be used to extend electricity access to rural communities, improve service delivery, and build a brighter future for every citizen. Instead, millions are spent feeding the insatiable greed of black-market copper syndicates.”
Phiri said Escom has launched a high-stakes, ad-hoc 30-day nationwide campaign to raise public awareness and aggressively dismantle the networks enabling the destruction.
“Vandalism is not just a crime against property; it is a direct assault on human life and human dignity. We are appealing to civil society to mobilise communities, and to the media to loudly sound the alarm,”he said.
From the health perspective, Malawi Health Equity Network executive director George Jobe said the cost of replacing a single transformer represents resources that could support medicines, medical equipment, and health personnel in underserved facilities.
“Power outages compromise critical health services such as maternity care, neonatal care, vaccine storage, laboratory services, oxygen supply systems, and emergency surgical procedures,”he said.
Security expert Master Dicks Mfune, in a separate interview, said the incidents were a wake-up call to people within Escom, arguing that vandalism of transformers can only be done by insiders who work or have worked in Escom and know how they operate.
He said it is unfortunate that the cost of replacing the transformers will be passed on to consumers and Malawi’s economy is being slowed down as economic activities are reduced.
Said Mfune: “Manufacturers use electricity to produce maize meal, barbershop use electricity to cut hair for a livelihood. Banking transactions to deposit and cash money using e-banking require electricity power. Not all people have solar power or can use standby genset.
“There is already a short supply of petroleum products due to the Iran war. Escom leadership should conduct a research to find out what is the cause of these occurrences. The trend is not happening by coincidence.”
Statistics from Escom show that in the cited months, 59 arrests were made with 10 convictions secured.
The revised Electricity Act of 2024 has set out serious penalties for theft, including 30 years’ imprisonment for vandalising, destroying, or being found in possession of stolen electricity installation equipment, without an option of a fine.
