Tanesco sued for Sh900m over live power line burns

Dar es Salaam. An expectant mother who was severely burnt after stepping on a fallen Tanesco live power line has sued the state power utility for Sh900 million in damages.

Ms Daines Shinyangwe was returning home from Mwananyamala Referral Hospital on April 29 last year when she came to contact with a collapsed power line close to her house at Mwananyamala Kisiwani in the city. She was then expecting to deliver in a few weeks.

Before the tragedy, neighbours heard an explosion before an uninsulated high voltage wire fell. The victim was returning home from hospital where she had gone for her routine clinical checkup.

The incident that happened few metres from her home caused her severe burns in her legs, left arm, stomach and other parts of the body. She collapsed and remained unconscious for nearly half an hour before neighbours rushed her to hospital.

She was initially rushed to Mwananyamala Referral Hospital where doctors recommended that she get transferred to the Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH).

At MNH, doctors decided that Ms Shinyangwe should first take her throughh an induced labour in order to save her and the baby.

In a case she filed Monday in the High Court in Dar es Salaam, the victim wants Tanesco to pay her Sh200 million in damages, and Sh700 million for the physical, psychological and mental anguish and inconvenience caused by the incident.

Through the service of Law Guards, the plaintiff is accusing Tanesco of negligence and recklessnes.

“Due to the negligence of Tanesco, the plaintiff will not be able to perform her duties normally for the rest of her life because of the incident that has deformed parts of her body,” argue her lawyers.

Tanesco had given the family Sh4 million support for treatment but the victim claims that the treatment cost and psychological pain caused by the incident far exceeded this amount.