Over two hundred protesters from Namame in Soche Township, Blantyre, have marched to Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi offices at Ginnery Corner after spending three months without power.

The marchers say they have been sleeping in the dark and businesses have collapsed since last December when Escom faults team removed a burst transformer from their midst, promising to replace it the next day.

Some of the protesters march to Escom offices in Ginnery Corner

Speaking during the march, ring leaders said they cannot wait any longer for Escom to deliver the unfulfilled promise as the disruption in power supply worsens poverty and hardship in the community dominated by low-income earners.

The majority of the protesters were the youth. They told The Nation the breakdown in power supply robs them of a brighter future they want since it worsens the country’s youth unemployment.

“Our peers who rely on barber shops, welding and other business that require electricity have been rendered jobless, meaning they cannot sustain themselves or train their peers,” said a 22-year-old, who identified himself as Arnold.

According to the International Labour Organisation of the United Nations, a quarter of the country’s working class youth, aged 18 to 35, actively look for employment, but cannot find any.

The post Soche residents march against Escom”s broken promise first appeared on The Nation Online.

The post Soche residents march against Escom”s broken promise appeared first on The Nation Online.