UMFWENI: DR. BRIAN MUSHIMBA CHALLENGES GOVERNMENT ON ENERGY CRISIS
Sunday, 16th November, 2026
Former Minister, Dr. Brian Mushimba, has delivered a strong and data-driven challenge to the narrative that Zambia’s current electricity crisis should be blamed on previous administrations. In a detailed statement, Dr. Mushimba argued that the facts paint a very different picture from what is often presented in public discourse.
According to the former minister, the foundation of any meaningful solution begins with correctly diagnosing the problem. Misrepresenting history, he warned, leads to weak interventions, misguided priorities, and a cycle of recurring crises.
Dr. Mushimba outlined Zambia’s energy trajectory using publicly available data:
• In 2011, when the Patriotic Front (PF) took office, the country had 1,600MW of installed electricity capacity almost equal to the national peak demand at the time.
• By 2021, ten years into PF’s tenure, installed capacity had more than doubled to 3,300MW, with additional projects underway that brought total capacity to 3,700MW by early 2022.
• Peak demand had risen to 2,400MW, leaving Zambia with an excess capacity of approximately 1,300MW when PF left office.
“These facts are public,” he emphasized, urging citizens to rely on verifiable data rather than political rhetoric.
With this context, Dr. Mushimba posed the central question: “What happened to the excess capacity?”
He questioned whether the extreme power shortages the country is experiencing today could have been avoided had different decisions been made over the last few years.
The former minister’s remarks come at a time of nationwide frustration over intensified load-shedding, which has disrupted households, industries, and the broader economy. Under the hashtags #LoadsheddingSucks and #AbenaKankoyo, Dr. Mushimba signaled solidarity with affected citizens while calling for honest and factual debate on the true causes of the crisis.
Methew nkhuwa was energy minister till 2021, he knows what pf left and yet the unpatriotic patriotic front former energy minister is as quiet as a door nail
The problem is that we were investing in hydropower even when we knew of climate change. It was like monthly budgeting for fuel for a vehicle on stones without an engine. Had we paid more attention to expert warnings about climate change, we would have invested more generation on non hydropower and avoided the situation we find ourselves in today. This is all about lack of foresight. You can’t blame the current administration for loadsheding. With which money would to should they have invested in power generation when they found debt recklessly acquired. Power bills from imports were pending, the coffers were dry, debt had to be restructured to leave atleast something for projects. I am even surprised that the culprits are regrouping throwing stone on someone cleaning up the mess they left. Fortunately I am not a blind follower
I can’t be fooled to support the same guys that messed up our economy. Suddenly they have become wise and know the solutions to the problems they created. Why didn’t they do it when they were in power? No one will bring you back after witnessing the suffering people are going through due to your past mistakes. Just forget. You are not coming back.