Public warned of fraudsters guised as ESCOM employees demanding a fee for application forms

The launch of the free connection MEAP in Lilongwe last December

* ESCOM is not and does not charge any fee for any application form for its services

* Such fraudsters should be reported to law enforcement agents for necessary action

By Duncan Mlanjira

Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) is warning the public that some fraudsters are impersonating ESCOM employees by visiting some locations in Lilongwe and other districts demanding money from people who intend to apply for new electricity connection — claiming it is a fee for application forms for free electricity connections.

A statement from ESCOM management said these individuals are taking advantage of the ongoing World Bank-funded Malawi Electricity Access Project (MEAP), which targets the clearing of backlog and new connections, to steal money from unsuspecting potential customers.

Thus ESCOM alerting the unsuspecting public that ESCOM is not and does not “charge any fee for any application form for its services” and that should they encounter such fraudsters, they should report them to law enforcement agents for necessary action.

“Individuals wishing to apply for new connections may access the forms at all ESCOM Service Centres and on www.escom.mw at no cost,” said the statement, while encouraging the public that if they need more clarification, to contact Central Region Customer Service HelpDesk through e-mail:customerservicesces@escom.mw and 0880 188 290.

In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Friday, President Lazarus Chakwera reported that government is increasing access to electricity through grid connection of 180,000 ESCOM customers under the MEAP to be completed next year.

This will also be complemented through construction of 16 mini-grids under MEAP, MAREP — “the UNDP supported access to clean and renewable energy (ACRE) project, which will connect 200,000 off-grid customers by next year as well.”

At the launch of the MEAP in Lilongwe last December, ESCOM Chief Executive Officer, Kamkwamba Kumwenda said they targeted to connect 30,000 customers by the end of March, 2023 — even for grass thatched households.

Under the project, there are customers requiring a service drop, some requiring one or more pole and those requiring a transformer. Phase 1 was targeted at service drop connections in order to clear backlog with the other categories to be connected under phase 2.

Kumwenda also announced that ESCOM had secured 50,000 meters by then and was expecting delivery of poles, cables and conductors and also recruited design engineer & safeguard specialists under US$5 million technical assistance component of the project.

Present at the launch was Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola, who the project was aimed at bringing the country’s on-grid electricity access rate to around 30% by 2030, from 12% as at the start of the project in 2020.

“For too long, Malawians have been deprived of having access to electricity,” he had said. “However, through the commitment of this Government to leave no-one behind, Malawians can now enjoy and share the benefits of this important service.”

In his SONA, the President said the top priority in the energy sector from the onset of his administration was to provide reliable electricity for Malawians but while the effort was on course throughout 2021, the country suffered a major setback through Cyclone Ana, that swept away infrastructure of Kapichira Hydro Power Station — losing over 130 megawatts off the national grid.

He said: “We have been working to rectify the situation, and though the deadline to restore the Kapichira Power Plant by the end of the last quarter of 2022 was missed due to concerns for the environment, I am happy to announce that our engineers are on target to restore partial generation of power from the plant by the end of this quarter.”

Chakwera also negotiated an interconnection deal with Mozambique for Malawi to import and export power to the Southern African Power Pool — the Mozambique-Malawi Interconnector Project — which the President said “is now finally underway, with construction having begun in November 2022”.

“Even more encouraging is the fact that in June 2022, we commissioned the 20 megawatts Golomoti Power Station with battery energy storage system (BESS). We also secured a US$25 million financing agreement to enable Golomoti Solar to capitalise this investment in solar power generation, as well as similar agreements with Elsewedy and AMEA Power.

“Similarly, the construction of the 21 megawatts Serengeti Solar Power Station in Nkhotakota is near completion and will be commissioned in the coming weeks.

“More broadly, we are increasing access to electricity through in-house wiring for 30,325 low-income households and free electricity connection for 32,325 under Ndawala Initiative through the Rural Electrification Fund,” said the President in Parliament.