Power all day, party all night!

Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) has finally succumbed to public and consumer rights pressure and changed it’s slogan from Power All Day, Every Day to Towards Power All Day, Every Day. A rarity in Malawian corporate history? Can’t really tell being in a society that rarely takes service providers to task for poor service.

So what does this change mean? To me it practically means nothing. Escom board chair Davies Katsonga said, and we have heard it all before, that once Kapichira and Tedzani II power plants are up an extra 40 megawatts (or there about) of power will be added to the power grid and reduce, if not eliminate, power shortages. I however take issue with that assertion. Currently there are many households in the country without power and not for dislike of that source of energy. It is because Escom simply just can’t supply! I tend to believe that the extra 40 megawatts may go someway in addressing current usage problems but does not take into account the currently unconnected and those still constructing.

I have argued before on this blog (New Year, same old power problems) that Malawians need to look to other sources of power like solar, bio-gas and possibly wind. Others have argued for nuclear power. My suggestion may be crazy since they are not backed up by any research whatsoever but imagine if all factories in the country used part of their huge roofing surface areas to install solar panels for lighting purposes within their facilities and fed the excess to neighbours? Imagine if every new household was encouraged to install solar water heaters that would have been either subsidized or been untaxed by government? How about if commercial structures used either natural air conditioning methods or some other natural cooling methods? For the amount of investment being put into factories and commercial structures, a solar investment is not too much to ask for and neither should a subsidized geyser for a residential property. If everyone made small changes like these, we could improve the current situation.

The other issue that seems to dog Escom is it 2008 K80 million end of year party. For arguments sake let us say that the corporation has 5,000 employees. This would translate that a whooping K16,000 was spent per head for this party. Now unless each employee was treated to a dish of caviar and a bottle of the finest French bubbly, the figure just does not add up. I have always had my doubts that all that money was spent on Christmas crackers. Don’t ask me what my suspicions are as am not about to reveal them.

So this year Escom has indicated that it will go ahead and organize yet another end of year party, much to the outrage of certain sections of the public. I personally feel every institution needs a little celebration and staff networking and parties are one of the best ways to achieve this. After all all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! Let them celebrate but this time with locally produced sea food and beverages – as tax payers we won’t accept another outrageously expensive gig!

Gomani's last dance

Inkosi ya Makosi Gomani IV is dead. It was only two days ago that we danced Ngoma together in Bawi.

Retired Colonel Alex Kanjedza Gomani became the new Ngoni paramount chief in mid 2008 to replace his father the late Inkosi ya Makosi Gomani III who died in 2006.

Rest in peace.

Ngoni Festival or Ngoma

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending Ngoma in Bawi. It's a traditional Ngoni Festival held once every two years and features traditional ngoni dances from Ntcheu, Dedza, Mzimba and Mozambique to mention a few. The function is organised by the Katola family.

The guest of honour was Inkosi ya Makosi Gomani IV, Paramount Chief of Ntcheu Maseko Ngoni's. Also present were Traditional Authority Kwataine, Traditional Authority Makwangwala, First Deputy Speaker Jones Chingola, Peoples Progressive Movement president Mark Katsonga Phiri and RBM deputy governor Mary Nkosi just to mention a few. A few pictures from the event below. A video to follow soon.

Kanengo lost the plot

He has lived up to his word. President Mutharika has expelled, in his words, four colonialists for working against him and his governments development agenda. Bosses at Limbe Leaf Tobacco Company, Alliance One Limited and Premium TAMA Tobacco have been sent packing for consistently offering lower than agreed prices for tobacco. Opinion is divided on whether deportation was the best approach to follow.

It is a known fact that in recent years buyers have offered less than satisfactory prices for leaf and this year it has been made worse by the fact that buyers are rejecting good quality leaf opting to scramble for the poorer quality. Why they are doing this remains a mystery. It is also alleged that tobacco firms buy leaf at rock bottom prices, sell it at a high profit and at the end of it all they get hefty salaries and big bonuses. In one persons words, they live in opulence at the expense of the poor farmer. Recently there have been allegations that Limbe Leaf provided the Malawi Congress Party with millions of kwachas in donations to run it’s 2009 elections campaign with the sole aim of getting Mutharika out of the way, their sworn enemy. Limbe Leaf denied it. There have also been other allegations, true and imaginary, including illegal externalisation of funds.

President Mutharika had repeatedly warned the buyers he would take stern action, a warning that probably fell on deaf ears in recent times. But the whip has been cracked and four families had 24 hours to pack up and go. ‘They were warned’ was phrase on the proponents lips.

But are the expulsions all it will take for farmers to get better prices at the floors? Yesterday it was reported that there were better prices on offer although farmers said the prices were only slightly better, zasinthako pang’ono, while the news anchor said the prices have changed drastically. Which ever was the case government can say they have been vindicated. But people tend to react out of fear. Next week we could very well see prices dropping yet again and it’s not like it has not happened before.

Government needs to stamp it’s authority on the situation but without causing fear or panic. There has to be a proactive master plan to get favourable prices for our leaf without using what some have termed as heavy handed tactics. It is only hoped that these deportations were an unfortunate and unavoidable first step of that plan. The last thing investors need, foreign or local, is an environment of uncertainty, one where families are given 24 hours to go. After all government is no scarecrow that sends people scampering for cover, tail between legs, each time it says ‘boo’!

Time to reclaim my bookshelf

As a young boy I was good with mathematics and my twin was good with English. My mother encouraged me to impart some of my number skills to my sister but since practically it is difficult to impart English skills from one to another, I was encouraged to read novels much to my disliking. If I obliged and read as much as my mother had wanted me too I would have no time for magalimoto amwaya (wire cars) and the almost daily treks up Nyambadwe hill. So each time I was told to read a novel and tell my mother the story after a few days, I would turn to my twin (who would have read it before), ask her what the story is about and tell my mother. I would then do my sister a few favours and everything would be cool. Well this was until mommy discovered our little evil scheme!

Today I take great joy in reading if and when work does not get in the way. And I am about to engross myself into novels even more with the discovery of Grey Matter, a relatively cheap and well stocked bookshop in town. They have a great collection of novels, professional books and children’s literature. I went in today and got myself a copy of Richard Branson’s Screw It, Lets Do It. And there were many other titles from Stephen King, Jeffery Archer and other well known and upcoming African writers. A good collection of autobiographies of Fidel Castro, Nelson Mandela, Robert Mugabe, Jack Welch, etc. And all at unbelievable bargains.

My immediate worry is where I will keep this new anticipated collection. I ‘loaned’ a bookshelf to my young boys to put their books, toys and other junk. I even painted it bright red! Time to get some paint stripper, a brush and some white gloss and paint it. I need to reclaim that bookshelf of mine.

The (mini)case for more city roads and better public transport

The other evening I was meeting up with a mate for a business discussion at Chameleon bar across town. I set off from Area 47 at 6:25pm for the 6:30pm meeting. I expected to make it on time or at least a minute late. I ended up arriving 10 minutes late and all because I had underestimated the amount of traffic I would encounter on the way. The roads were clogged as if it were still 5pm rush hour.

Yesterday at lunch I found myself making a trip from City Centre to Old Town. By the time I reached my destination my feet were sore from the fifteen minutes of constant braking and accelerating.

We have too many cars on our roads and it’s affecting the environment and our health. I have the pleasure of working from home so don’t share the pain of those who have to make daily commutes to work. There is need for our city fathers to work on getting cars off the roads or making the road infrastructure better.

Provision of more dual lanes and increased parking lots is one way of dealing with it. Some of the illegal parking that takes place actually causes traffic jams. Property developers should also be forced into providing bigger parking areas than is currently the case. An example is the Blantyre City Assembly’s move to clamp cars that park ‘illegally’ but not providing enough public parking facilities. One tends to wonder where all the money from parking tickets and fines goes to.

Alternatively the newly introduced dual lanes should have a lane dedicated to high occupancy vehicles, buses and cyclists. The rest can use the other lane. This will encourage car pooling and also allow people to use buses other than their cars. It requires lots of civic education but it is very feasible. Cities like Johannesburg and Copenhagen have dedicated lanes for buses and cyclists and they work. It won’t happen overnight but it will work if everyone works together to make it happen.

If we don’t deal with this problem sooner rather than later it we will be heading for a gridlock!

When ‘Email marketing’ goes horribly wrong

It all started one quiet Friday morning when I received what was supposed to be a promotional email from a hotel in Chirimba. The sender, who never signed off, sent an email titled “Dorvic Hotel (Blantyre - Malawi)” and the body was simply written “PLEASE FIND THE ATTACHED DOCUMENTS. Regards”. Attached were three power point files and a word document. I found this approach rather amateurish but thought that someone somewhere will buy it. But what I saw next sent alarm bells ringing. The sender had sent this email to some 500 people or so and placed all the addresses in the TO: section for all to see. It was a recipe for disaster!

While I was still thinking why the sender had decided to send off an email in that way an email acknowledging receipt came in. Within a few minutes another acknowledgment came in. Then two other people responded at almost the same time asking people to send their acknowledgments to the sender and not to everybody. Then all hell broke loose. People started to second the idea that people should not respond to all. One of the first people to acknowledge receipt then sent out his ‘social message’ to the whole list. Then someone else sent out a party invitation. People shouted out loud to be removed from the list. Others continued to urge people not to respond to all. The emails went on and on and on and they came from far and wide. A gentleman south of the Limpopo wondered why he had to be abused for simply providing his email address when he patronized the hotel some time back.

Some semblance of normality seems to have set in but not without our hotel getting a bloody noise. An official apology from the hotel was sent out days later assuring email recipients that the whole episode was an error that had now been fixed and would never happen again. They then went on to extend a 10% discount to all email recipients for services at the hotel till 31st December 2009.

This apology no doubt was an attempt at crisis management but the damage had already been done and it was third parties that did the brand the most damage. The hotel provided the fuel for the flame that two people lit and burnt a pretty young and potential brand. The confidence that so many people had put in this institution by providing their email addresses on the assurance that their privacy would be guaranteed was lost at the press of the Send button.

This is one of many bitter lessons that organisations that choose cheap over professional, shortcut over doing it the right way have to deal with time and again. We can only hope that they will lead to better practices in the future!