President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika has admitted that frequent power cuts in the country have reached a crisis stage.

Mutharika made the admission during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered today during the official opening of the 46th session of Parliament in the capital Lilongwe.

However, Mutharika asked Malawians to be patient saying his government is doing everthing possible to deal with the challenge.

“I am speaking at a time when thousands of Malawians are suffering the pain of power shortage. Our people are suffering the pain of failing to run businesses. Many homes are in the dark for hours. Barber shops for our young men are suffering. In our villages everywhere, women have to wait for hours at maize mills while children wait for food back at home. Life is no longer normal for everyone.

“Mr Speaker, the first step in solving a problem is to accept the problem. Let us accept that we have a serious problem that we must solve collectively,” said Mutharika.

He added: “Let us admit that this country is suffering consequences of neglecting the energy sector for many years. Let us be honest to admit that we did not invest to expand our energy generation. For fifty years, we kept thinking as if Malawi would remain what it was in the 1960s.
As Government, we have accepted our responsibility. I am here to make Malawi do what this country could not do in fifty years. We must invest to expand power generation. That is exactly what we are doing.”

He said his government has invested in a number of projects aiming at curbing the power cuts in the country.