The day an Area 23 resident saw Sesa light

The word light means many things to different people. To some people, light symbolises hope yet to others it means revelations.

While other people see light at the end of the tunnel figurately, what Area 23 resident, Stuart Suwenje saw on December 23 2022 was the real light. Yes, that contrast of having to use candles and battery-powered torches at night, drink unrefrigerated warm water and beverages, have a cold bath and cook using charcoal all the time.

On this day, the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) connected electricity Suwenje’s house in Chiuzira Village, Traditional Authority Tsabango under the World Bank-funded Malawi Electricity Access Project (Meap).

It is, thus, understandable that the father of three, with youth exuberance tinged with emotions, remembers the sights and sounds of this day like it was a day he hit a jackpot

“It was like I was day-dreaming when a team from Escom, led by chief executive officer [Kamkwamba Kumwenda] and the Principal Secretary for Energy [Engineer Alfonso Chikuni] visited my house to officially connect electricity under Meap or Project Sesa,” says Suwenje.

He says he could not believe it when he received a call from an Escom officer on December 21 2022 informing him that his house has been earmarked for electricity connection under Meap.

“We broke into a loud cheer to celebrate the coming of light at our home. To have electricity connected barely two days later was unbelievable. I thought I would wait for months and years on end for a new connection,” he says.

Changed life

It has been a month now since Suwenje, the Ministry of Gender security guard, started using electricity at his house.

The 39-year-old shares how access to electricity has transformed his life and that of his family.

He says: “My school-going children are now able to study in the evening without hassles. The coming in of electricity has given me loads of business ideas. I now want to open a hair dressing salon. I also want to start selling refrigerated soft drinks.

“Additionally, having access to electricity means that my family has substantially cut down on the use of charcoal, thereby helping conserve the environment.”

Meap is affectionately called Sesa in the vernacular meaning sweeping. This project will sweep the backlog of connections dating back to the year 2014 and new connection with a target of 180 000 customers in the next two years from the launch day.

The connection of electricity at the Area 23 residence was followed by the actual launch of MEAP at Bingu International Conventional Centre in Lilongwe on Friday December 23 2022.

The project seeks to increase national electricity access, which currently stands at 12 percent, in the country.

30 percent electricity access by 2030

Speaking during the launch of the project, Kumwenda hailed the World Bank for financing the project to the tune of $65 million (about K67.340 billion), saying the initiative will improve access to electricity in the country.

“This project will contribute to government’s policy of increasing on-grid electricity access rate to around 30 percent by 2030, from 12 percent as at the start of the project in 2020,” he says.

“The project also aims at increasing off-grid electricity access to 20 percent by 2030, thereby bringing the total electricity access rate for the country to 50 percent by 2030. The off-grid electricity access component of the project is being implemented by the Ministry of Energy.”

Escom chief operations officer Maxwell Mulimakwenda says the project should have started in 2020, but delayed due to logistical challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and other factors.

“The main objective of the project is to increase access to electricity in Malawi because access to electricity is currently very low,” he says.

Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola says the project is in line with the government’s agenda of increasing access to electricity countrywide.

He says: “The project addresses some of the deliverables in the Government’s Connections Guideline such as incentivising the low-income households through soft loan facility for connection and provision of ready boards for low-cost installations.”

He envisages more people being connected to the grid as Escom strives to “bring power to every customer on the electricity grid”.

T/A Tsabango reminds his subjects and the country at large that while Escom is connecting electricity, it would be counterproductive for other people to put spanners in the works by vandalising the corporation’s assets.

“Let us all take responsibility in protecting Escom assets from vandalism, let us also protect the environment,” he says.

Mechanics of the project Sesa

Phase One of the project will see Escom targeting service drop connections mainly clearing the backlog.

The first phase of the project seeks to connect 30 000 customers in the next few months of the year.

According to Meap project manager Macdivings Longwe, about 800 customers have already been connected across the country so far.

According to the rollout plan, Escom will connect those requiring a service drop one or more poles and a transformer.

It is clear that many households such as that of Suwenje will have access to electricity and in turn, help improve their lives.