That energy is key to development is commonsense. All of us, ordinary citizens and leaders alike, understand that, without reliable energy sources, economies falter and lives of people, including the small-scale businessperson who runs a barber shop or welding centre, stagnate.
Sadly, this has been the state of affairs in Malawi for the better part of our independence. So, instead of singing the glorious song of power all day, every day, it is the word power outage that is mentioned, like a lullaby, on almost every lip. The exception could be the elite, who can afford generator sets (gensets).
But, then, convenience guaranteed by the availability of gensets has a cost— a cost so high that it threatens operations of the private sector in the country. No wonder, the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry has, countless times, made its position clear that, if power supply challenges persist, most industry players may close shop.
Maybe, sensing danger, development partners such as the European Union (EU) have come in to pump resources in alternative sources of energy. The EU has just announced that it would pump 1.5 million euros [about K1.3 billion] in a sustainable energy project in Malawi.
Ironically, the government seems to be stuck with the idea that hydro-electric power is the only solution to power outages. This is akin to banking on a spoilt child because it is the very same hydro-electric power that has let us down big time.
And, if we were wise enough, we would have devised means of reducing our over-reliance on hydro-electric power, considering that we have a bounty of natural resources— talk of the wind, a generous sun that throws its rays at us and casts its light all year round.
Surely, we could harness these resources to advance our cause— which is to have uninterrupted power supply.
Instead, we hear public officials such as Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Minister Aggrey Masi sticking to the rotten pole that is hydroelectric power.
But the writing was supposed to be clear on the wall— following pronouncements by Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe in the 2018/2019 budget statement that power outage woes would only become a thing of the past in 2021. Even then, Gondwe was not even sure— government officials seem to have a propensity to love things that have failed us.
That is why the Energy Minister told journalists that Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (Marep) Phase 8 is an important programme despite continued challenges in energy generation.
Well, we would like to tell those in government that Malawians are tired of power outages. In fact, we would like to tell our leaders that programmes such as Marep are no better than false hopes, especially if people are connected to the national electricity grid without guarantees of having uninterrupted power supply.
Give those who are wallowing in darkness power first, and those in the dark will rest assured that the government is not giving them a dummy.
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