I told you so about diesel generators

Dear judge Mbadwa,

When I refused to be intoxicated with excitement over the commissioning of the diesel generators, with its false promise of adding 55 megawatts to the national grid, I was labelled unpatriotic, especially from the blue-half of the political spectrum.

Now that the fuel guzzlers are scarcely humming and the duration of being in darkness is not being reduced; where are those who waxed lyrical of the reduced hours of load-shedding estimated to have been eased by some four hours?

Mapuya and his colleagues at Electricity Corporation of Nyasaland (Escon) sold us a dummy on the gensets and the purported rationale behind increasing tariffs, and they know it.

The gensets at Chichiri mockingly look as us as some tombstones, laughing at all who praised their installation as the short-term solution to the electricity generation crisis. What short-term solution?

If the increased blackouts are anything to go by, it was generally not the electricity crisis that these gensets were solving.

Unfortunately, the vocal supporters of the project have gone into hiding and no one is ready to issue an apology to the masses.

My Lord, the whole energy regulatory authority went into overdrive, justifying the tariff increase on the basis of the gensets and now that this project has failed when are we going to get the refunds.

My Lord, we don’t need to involve the venerated Competitions and Fair Trading Commission of Nyasaland to press for refunds.

In my opinion, My Lord, the whole thing was daylight robbery and we cannot take it lying down any longer.

As I argued then, the whole genset arrangement was from the onset bizarre for a country that claims to be progressive and whose leadership likes to parade itself as the best there is.

By this letter, therefore, My Lord I want to ask your court’s indulgence in ensuring that we, citizens, are refunded what has been stolen from us in terms of tariffs.

I don’t want to listen to claims that the power utility company is stockpiling its arsenal to ensure that it provides power all day during campaign in 2019 because that would be utter nonsense, and to say the least, kindergarten thinking.

My Lord, if people cannot live by their promises then they don’t deserve our sympathy and it is on this basis that I call for the dissolution of the boards of the power utility company and that of the energy regulating authority.

You just have to be close to areas where these generators are operating to experience the noise and tremors that are being distributed when the lingua franca of power generation nowadays is clean energy.

The money invested in generators should have been channeled to solar or other forms of clean energy now that we have seen that hydro power is no longer sustainable.

This country needs visionary leaders who don’t think short term and elections only even in times of make-believe crises.

Was this kind investment worth every noise it has generated? Not at all!  We could do with some load-shedding as long as we were working on a sustainable programme that really could benefit the nation.

So, My Lord, I ask your Tribunal to tell Mapuya and company that I am a pessimist at best; hence, I should be spared from all celebratory dances about diesel-generated power when most Malawians who buy electricity units are consequently being milked.

I say no to Zigayo za Dizilozi.

Regards.