Escom non-committal on Champhira power crisis

The Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) is non-committal on ending the power crisis in Champhira, Mzimba.

In an interview on Friday, Escom public relations manager Kitty Chingota said she could not give the exact date when the electricity problem will be rectified.

She said currently the utility company does not have the power transformer needed to replace the faulty one.

Said Chingota: “I cannot commit on the date the fault will be rectified. But I wish to advise that we are treating the matter as a priority.”

Reports reveal that the area has gone three weeks without electricity, a development which apart from affecting households, has also hit hard health and education facilities.

Mzimba District Hospital health promotion officer Ulunji Luhanga confirmed the situation, saying they now have to contend with some patients from Katete Health Centre.

The power outage has also affected water services at Champhira. Luhanga said they have been told that the health centre at times depends on water from boreholes.

“I cannot state the exact number of patients that we are receiving but some are also referred to Jenda for treatment,” said Luhanga.

Last year, people at Nsanje Boma stayed for close to a year without power due to delays by Escom to restore a transformer they removed in 2022 when it developed a fault.

Bishop Martin Mtumbuka of Karonga Diocese of the Catholic Church last year also dedicated his K16 million annual budget for pastoral services to buy an electricity transformer for St. Mauritius Secondary School in Senior Chief Mwalweni in Rumphi District.

He said efforts to get a transformer were fruitless as Escom told them to buy it, which before the 44 percent kwacha devaluation last November was valued at about K15 million.