By IOMMIE CHIWALO
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has objected to ESCOM’s request to transfer the single buyer license for electricity to Power Marketing Limited (PML) warning the move will push tariffs up while failing to fix persistent blackouts.
In a letter to Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dad Chimthambi dated Tuesday May 29 2026, CDEDI Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa said the May 22 notice by MERA calling for licensing of PML was “ill-timed” and “not in the best interest of electricity consumers.
For starters the role of single buyer which currently rests with ESCOM is to purchase all electricity from generators, sells to distributors and consumers but there is a reservation whereby concerned stakeholders like CDEDI expresses that pushing it all to PML will add unnecessary administrative layer and costs to the tariff.
“Malawians are already frustrated with loadshedding, signalling erratic electricity generation due to obsolete infrastructure at ESCOM,” Namiwa wrote.
He says transferring the license to PML would create a third entity in the electricity supply chain.
CDEDI Executive Director argues that ESCOM staff have been reduced to fault attendants with no capacity to maintain archaic infrastructure.
“The noble thing therefore was to use the available resources, if any, to improve power availability before attempts to revive. For argument’s sake, where on earth do you sell something that is not there in the first place,” queries Namiwa while warning that PML would come with a full structure and operational costs that will be recovered through tariffs.
“The move will see the consumer paying more, since it will result in the creation of a third entity after the Electricity Generation Company and ESCOM whose finances will come from the very exorbitant electricity tariffs,” Namiwa said.
He described the plan as insensitive to the plight of Malawians and contrary to government’s austerity measures.
“The new team will have the same structure and the team will swim in the same opulence, when the consumer is struggling,” he says in a strong enlightenment.
He further claims that the creation of PML was about creation of jobs for some privileged individuals that are loyal to the ruling party rather than service delivery.
“Therefore the current available resources should be spent on power generation and improvement of the distribution system,” Namiwa wrote.
MERA issued a public notice on May 22, 2026 calling for applications for licensing of Power Marketing Limited. The notice did not detail the rationale for the transfer.
While ESCOM and MERA had not responded to CDEDI’s letter by press time, this publication has seen a stamped letter acknowledging receipt by MERA but its CEO Dad Chimthambi was not immediately available for comment.
The single buyer model was introduced to separate generation, transmission, and distribution functions in the power sector and ESCOM has held the license since EGENCO was unbundled from it in 2017.
Malawi has faced chronic power shortages, with installed capacity of around 554MW against peak demand of over 700MW warranting massive loadshedding despite recent solar and interconnector projects.
CDEDI said it was writing as a mouth-piece of the voiceless citizenry and in its “governance watchdog role.”
