Antonio questions where 15-hrs of electricity being generated is going to
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leader Antonio Mwanza says while Zambians are suffering with only 3 hours of electricity supply daily, 15 hours of electricity being produced is unaccounted for.
President Hakainde Hichilema while in opposition denounced what he described as chipantepante and visionless leadership of then president Edgar Lungu’s administration for leading the country into loadshedding, during a season of drought, while countries such as Saudi Arabia which was in the desert had electricity.
However, under his administration, the country is facing the worst loadshedding ever experienced in history, despite the excellent rains from the 2024-2025 rain season.
But during his address to Parliament yesterday, President Hichilema blamed the lack of investment in the energy sector, and that the government was undertaking several projects aimed at enhancing energy generation in the country.
However, other administrations have in the past carried out development projects in the energy sector while maintaining stability in electricity generation, exception in very rare circumstances when the country has experienced serious droughts.
During the address, President Hichilema announced what have been observed as discriminatory policies where more energy would be provided to those in ‘kombonis’ while offering little to those in ‘mayadis’, a policy that has only been introduced two years after the blackouts started, and that has been denounced as appeasement to those in densely populated areas ahead of the 2026 general elections.
The President has been accused of coming up with these discriminatory policies after failing to find a solution he said he would find to the problem at hand.
Commenting on the crippling blackouts being endured by Zambians, Mwanza described Zambia as a country in crisis.
“ZESCO is generating 1,806 megawatts (MW) of power per day against a national demand of 2,400 MW per day. This represents about 75 percent of our national needs, which should translate into at least 18 hours of electricity supply every single day for the Zambian people,” Mwanza stated. “But what is the reality? Zambians are only receiving 3 hours of power per day while 15 hours of electricity is unaccounted for and sold outside the country.”
Mwanza described the state of affairs as unacceptable, wondering how the government expected the people to produce, farm, run industries, keep shops open and create jobs to grow the economy when they were in darkness for 21 hours of the day
https://dailyrevelationzambia.com/antonio-questions-where-15-hrs-of-electricity-being-generated-is-going-to/