PERSISTENTLY poor services are causing customer complaints on the Tanzania Electric Supply Co. (TANESCO) especially its customer service centre, the portfolio minister has declared.

Dr Doto Biteko, the deputy premier and Energy minister, made this observation when addressing the third performance review meeting for institutions under the ministry for the October-December 2024 period.

This review is part of a procedure initiated to evaluate progress every three months, with intent to improve ministerial institutions’ performance, where he acknowledged that good work was being done, customer service remains a weak point.

“I visited this centre recently and told them I am not satisfied with its performance. I am aware of the challenges it faces, not by guesswork, but from feedback from citizens and leaders who oversee me.

“We’ve made great strides in power supply, building power lines, but one person whose role is to listen to customers and provide accurate responses is undermining all our efforts. This makes us appear incompetent. The answers are there, but the experts act like bullies toward customers. This is unacceptable,” the minister declared.

He shared an example of a citizen’s complaint about calling TANESCO, receiving a complaint ticket, only for it to be cancelled later, falsely claiming the issue had been resolved.

“When the customers inquired why the ticket was cancelled, they were met with rudeness,” he said, directing the firm’s managing director to take action against the involved employee.

If no action is taken by this Friday, the DPM will step in, he affirmed, stressing that respect for citizens must be upheld, so customer service staff should provide appropriate, respectful answers and contribute to solving public needs.

He demanded that the ministry’s institutions prioritize the energy compact agreement, signed at the African Heads of State energy summit on January 28, where the goal of providing electricity to 8.3m Tanzanians by 2030 is enshrined.

“Each of you, in your respective roles, should plan how to implement this energy compact. The funds announced are from development partners like the World Bank and the African Development Bank, and these funds cover the entire African continent, not just Tanzania.

“We must strategize on how to access these funds to execute our projects,” he stated, underlining that this would complement the president for leading the successful adoption of this vital energy plan.

He also demanded that the Rural Energy Agency (REA) align clean cooking energy distribution in rural areas with assessments of people transitioning to clean energy, implicitly to avoid handing subsidised gas cylinders to those who don’t need them.

At the meeting, the minister presented awards to high-performing institutions like the Petroleum Upstream Regulatory Authority (PURA) ranked first, the Rural Energy Agency (REA) second, and the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA), third.

Awards were also given to high-performing TANESCO regions cited as Kilimanjaro (1st), South Kinondoni (2nd) and North Kinondoni (3rd).

Judith Kapinga, the deputy minister, noted that the performance review meetings have led to positive results, improving the ministry’s overall performance.

Ministry officials present included Felchesmi Mramba, the permanent secretary, Dr Khatibu Kazungu – the deputy permanent secretary for electricity and renewable energy, Dr James Mataragio, the deputy permanent secretary for petroleum and gas, among others.