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PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WE WANT AN EXPLANATION WHY A CHILD WHO WAS ON LIFE SUPPORT HAS DIED FOLLOWING ELECTRICITY OUTAGE
31st May,2023
I have received a very disturbing report that a child by the name of Prince Nkhata of mundalanga village of chama district who was on life support system has died this morning around 04 hrs at Chama General Hospital following reported power outages being experienced in the district.
I have since contacted both the acting District Health Director Dr Kawana Luwi and ZESCO branch manager Mr Chibwe for an explanation over the matter and as such both of them have given their explanations as the doctor has confirmed that the hospital standby generator is not operational because of lack of the spare part which has since been imported.
Further relatives to the deceased have confirmed that the unfortunate death has been caused due to loss of power while the child was on oxygen because of failure by the hospital to maintain a standby generator as per required safety standards for all medical institutions in the country in an event of abrupt loss of power supplied by the power utility company.
However the standby generator was moved from the old hospital facility to the new general hospital a year ago but upto now it is not operational because of the spare part which has not yet been delivered to the district according to the statement from the medical doctor.
It is therefore unacceptable that the district has continued to lose lives in similar circumstances and as such this matter was even raised in parliament for the district hospital to have a reliable backup power supply as a matter of urgency to avert loss of lives but to date no immediate measures have been taken to operationize the standby generator especially that chama district is not yet connected to the national electricity grid as it is supplied with power from malawi which is very erratic.
Furthermore I’m also aware that although ZESCO runs a thermo power station in the district as a backup however management in chama has several times advised hospital authorities to install a standby generator in an event that there is power interruptions from both ZESCO and malawai electricity grid respectively.
It is in light of the foregoing that as araa member of parliament I demand for honest answers from relevant authorities so that those found wanting must be held accountable because it can’t be business as usual and as such it is my responsibility to see to it that the lives of the people of chama are safeguarded at all times.
Moreover I have been in touch with ZESCO management regularly in regard for the utility company to quickly connect the district to the national electricity grid by ensuring that sub stations are constructed as quickly as possible in order to facilitate power transmission following the successful completion of the 132KV transmission line from chipata to chama for the smooth economic activities in the district and avert continued loss of lives at the hospital.
Issued by;
Hon Yotam.Mtayachalo
Member of parliament for chama north
