K4.5 billion claims pile pressure on Blantyre Water Board

Blantyre Water Board (BWB) is facing financial pressure from separate claims exceeding K4.5 billion, with businessperson Madalitso Chika pursuing almost K3 billion through the courts and the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi Limited (Escom) demanding K1.6 billion in unpaid electricity charges.

Chika, trading as Mortech IT Solutions, obtained judgment against BWB and has applied to the High Court’s Commercial Division in Lilongwe for a third-party debt order to recover the money.

Chika’s lawyer, Khumbo Soko, confirmed the matter is before the courts.

According to court documents, BWB owes Chika K2,576,926,998.20 in principal and interest.

The application also claims K386,539,049.73 in collection costs, bringing the total amount being pursued to K2,963,466,047.93.

Through Soko & Company, Chika wants the court to order several banks and mobile money companies to pay funds held on behalf of BWB towards settlement of the judgment debt.

Meanwhile, Escom has issued BWB with a separate payment warning over a K1.6 billion shortfall.

In a letter dated September 1 2026, Escom Chief Executive Officer William Kaira told BWB that it had failed to honour a payment commitment made for August.

Escom has given BWB 14 days to settle the outstanding amount and warned that electricity at the BWB head office will be disconnected on September 14 if payment is not made.

Kaira said Escom has been paying amounts relating to taxes, allocations to independent power producers and levies on BWB’s behalf, which he said account for more than 60 percent of an electricity bill.

Efforts to obtain a comment from BWB on the two developments had not yielded a response by the time of publication.