Marep leaves Nsanje villagers in the dark

Spare a thought for Limbika Khwawa, a 12-year-old boy with partial blindness at Matundu Primary School’s resource Centre for learners with visual impairment in Nsanje. The Standard Five learner still stumbles in the dark, groping for safe footsteps, as the Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (Marep) vanished before delivering the promised lights to his school and villages nearby. “Light helps me see the way.

Without electricity, we bump into each other and crash into trees and other objects,” he says. Their security guard sometimes lends them his torch to prevent injuries, says the boy. Limbika’s dilemma shines a light on how Marep frustrates its target population—rural communities that are home to at least four in five Malawians, according to the 2018 census.

The findings revealed that Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) had connected only four percent of rural households since 1980 when it launched Marep. This represents a rural electrification rate of one percent per decade despite the National Energy Policy target to connect at least 70 percent of the population by 2030, the deadline for the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to end poverty and inequality. At its snail’s-pace, Marep would take over 990 years to achieve SDG 7: affordable, clean energy for all.

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Last September, Marep decided to connect Matundu and the surrounding villages to the national grid for improved lighting, business growth and quality education. “They promised to connect about 200 households, out of which 136 paid connection fees. Today, only 63 got connected and 73 are still waiting for meters,” says Chimombo Area Development Committee (ADC) chairperson Falamenga Chimombo.

Two poles without wires—one in front of Limbika’s hostel and another in the bush behind—proclaim a promise not delivered. The Marep contractor vacated the area before electricity reached the target population, locals say. Matundu headteacher Samson Ngandu unpacked the raw deal: “The first survey showed that electricity would reach our school, but the team later claimed that the wires were depleted.

Later, they asked us to buy some for power lines to reach staff houses and the resource centre, but free primary schools don’t make money. “Till today, the nearest pole stands in front of the resource centre where 15 children live and the partially blind constantly get injured in the dark. Most teachers shun our school and six have asked for transfers since 2020.”

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