Ministry of Energy says Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (Marep) is set to light 220 sites in Karonga District under Marep 10 being developed after the expiry of Marep 9.
This came to light on Tuesday in the district during a meeting the ministry held with the district’s community members and leaders to unveil the 2026- 2030 Marep 10 Master Plan.
The ministry’s principal economist Charles Chinangwa said the initiative of connecting schools, villages and major trading centres offers socio-economic development to rural communities.
He said: “Building on Marep 9, which is phasing out, we are coming up with Marep 10 and this master plan will guide us to electrify rural masses to connect them to the national grid.
“Since the ministry’s mission takes electricity as a hub of socio-economic growth, we believe that once these rural areas are connected, there will be rural transformation in areas such as job creation, youth entrepreneurship and access to education in schools that have computer laboratories.”
Traditional Authority (T/A) Kilupula expressed joy over the development, saying electricity is key to socio-economic development.
“However, let them address the concerns and bottlenecks raised such as misprocurement to ensure that distribution of electricity is equitable,” he said.
On his part, Karonga Town legislator Daniel Chitonya Mwanyongo (Malawi Congress Party) called on the ministry to decentralise Marep functions to ensure efficiency and swift implementation.
“Decentralisation will also bring about efficiency, speedy implementation and effectiveness of the processes. Right now, the ministry, which is a policyholder, is too bureaucratic and requires an independent implementer that will be using the same fuel levy efficiently,” he said.
But in a separate interview, the ministry’s spokesperson Joan Thaundi Nyirenda said the Rural Electrification Act provides for the establishment of an independent rural electrification agency although the country is yet to devolve in line with that legal requirement.
The meeting drew together all T/As, parliamentarians, ward councillors and Karonga District and Town Council’s officials.
