The Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change have summoned the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) and Malawi Regulatory Authority (Mera) officials over the recent hike in electricity tariff.

On 29 March this year, Mera introduced new electricity tariffs which saw an increase of 10.6 percent compared to the previous rates.

Mera Consumers Affairs and Publicist Fatima Khonje rendered the development came due to the depreciation of the Malawi Kwacha against the major foreign currencies hence approving the adjustment to allow ESCOM to carry out its operations effectively.

Prior to the development, Parliament questioned the adjustment thus demanding proper address from the officials from the two bodies.

Chairperson of the Natural Resources Committee of Parliament, Werani Chilenga, says the committee was not consulted and suspected that Mera’s decision to adjust the tariffs was to bail out Escom from the financial mess it is in, at the expense of Malawians.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Mera’s acting CEO Ishmael Chioko advised Escom, through its CEO Clement Kangang’wa, via a phone conversation to put on hold implementation of the tariff.

Chioko, however, disclosed that there was no formal communication despite a high-level meeting between the two institutions.