What next at Escom
The removal of Evelyn Mwapasa as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the beleaguered Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) has been described by rights groups protesting against incessant power outages as a good move although they remain skeptical.
Mwapasa, who only served as CEO for eight months, was Thursday moved to Air Cargo where she will serve as General Manager.
Civil society groups, however, wondered whether the change would solve the power crisis which has affected profit margins of companies and disrupted families across the country.
Billy Mayaya, one of the organisers of the Wednesday protests against blackouts, welcomed the decision to move Mwapasa but said: “It cannot change anything.”
He welcomed the decision to redeploy Mwapasa but was skeptical that anything would change.
“She did her part but still she takes the blame too and her removal won’t mean much because she was just a political appointee,” Mayaya said.
He, however, gave Chiwaya the benefit of the doubt, saying “we need to see how he performs but I am sure that he won’t be able to end the corruption at Escom.”
Forum for National Development National Coordinator, Fryson Chodzi, welcomed the change at Escom describing it as a positive move.
“It’s a good move and at the same time raises expectations for the new management to deliver,” Chodzi said.
He said the public expects the new management to come with new ideas to solve the power crisis and offer no more excuses.
Escom acting Public Relations Manager, George Mituka, announced the decision but did not give any reasons why Mwapasa had been moved to another government agency.
“The change is effective November 6 2017. She has been transferred to Air Cargo where she will become General Manager,” he said, adding that she has been replaced by Alexon Chiwaya.
Mituka said Chiwaya is not new at Escom. “He worked in different capacities for 23 years from 1982 to 2005.”
Yesterday Chiwaya said he was driving when asked for his reaction on how he intends to solve the power crisis. The Daily Times talked to him on two occasions but he kept on saying that he was driving. He promised to call back but did not
The shake up comes amid a power crisis worsened by the failure to procure 78 megawatts of diesel standby generators initially planned to be in the country by October when power generation capacity is low.
The Director of Public Procurement had launched an investigation into how Escom handled the process of procurement and found two key anomalies among others that messed up the whole procurement;
- A company known as Apac Energy found itself on the list when it was not on the list of companies shortlisted to participate in the restricted tender process
- Evaluation of bids was done twice, which opened up the process to manipulation
The ODPP also found out that actually, Escom had one year – October 2016 to October 2017, in which to procure the generators to help ease the frustrations of businesses, families and stop the nightmare for those on life support machines in hospitals.
Mwapasa leaves Escom at a time when a power crisis has worsened with no generators insight despite President Peter Mutharika assuring the nation the power problems would end by next month.
Chiwaya goes to Escom armed with knowledge and experience, having worked there for more than two decades. His major task is to manage the ongoing load shedding schedules and find solutions to end the power outages in collaboration with the Electricity Generation Company.
The removal of Evelyn Mwapasa as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the beleaguered Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) has been described by rights groups protesting against incessant power outages as a good move although they remain skeptical.
Mwapasa, who only served as CEO for eight months, was Thursday moved to Air Cargo where she will serve as General Manager.
Civil society groups, however, wondered whether the change would solve the power crisis which has affected profit margins of companies and disrupted families across the country.
Billy Mayaya, one of the organisers of the Wednesday protests against blackouts, welcomed the decision to move Mwapasa but said: “It cannot change anything.”
He welcomed the decision to redeploy Mwapasa but was skeptical that anything would change.
“She did her part but still she takes the blame too and her removal won’t mean much because she was just a political appointee,” Mayaya said.
He, however, gave Chiwaya the benefit of the doubt, saying “we need to see how he performs but I am sure that he won’t be able to end the corruption at Escom.”
Forum for National Development National Coordinator, Fryson Chodzi, welcomed the change at Escom describing it as a positive move.
“It’s a good move and at the same time raises expectations for the new management to deliver,” Chodzi said.
He said the public expects the new management to come with new ideas to solve the power crisis and offer no more excuses.
Escom acting Public Relations Manager, George Mituka, announced the decision but did not give any reasons why Mwapasa had been moved to another government agency.
“The change is effective November 6 2017. She has been transferred to Air Cargo where she will become General Manager,” he said, adding that she has been replaced by Alexon Chiwaya.
Mituka said Chiwaya is not new at Escom. “He worked in different capacities for 23 years from 1982 to 2005.”
Yesterday Chiwaya said he was driving when asked for his reaction on how he intends to solve the power crisis. The Daily Times talked to him on two occasions but he kept on saying that he was driving. He promised to call back but did not
The shake up comes amid a power crisis worsened by the failure to procure 78 megawatts of diesel standby generators initially planned to be in the country by October when power generation capacity is low.
The Director of Public Procurement had launched an investigation into how Escom handled the process of procurement and found two key anomalies among others that messed up the whole procurement;
- A company known as Apac Energy found itself on the list when it was not on the list of companies shortlisted to participate in the restricted tender process
- Evaluation of bids was done twice, which opened up the process to manipulation
The ODPP also found out that actually, Escom had one year – October 2016 to October 2017, in which to procure the generators to help ease the frustrations of businesses, families and stop the nightmare for those on life support machines in hospitals.
Mwapasa leaves Escom at a time when a power crisis has worsened with no generators insight despite President Peter Mutharika assuring the nation the power problems would end by next month.
Chiwaya goes to Escom armed with knowledge and experience, having worked there for more than two decades. His major task is to manage the ongoing load shedding schedules and find solutions to end the power outages in collaboration with the Electricity Generation Company.
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