GHANA: Power exports to Mali, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso cancelled
…as incubator failure leads to infant death
Amb. Anthony Mukwita
9th June 2024
Winding up the international news roller-coaster is ever an anti-climax for me.
It’s hard to choose what news cord to close the week on especially if you love good news as much as I do, I am incurable romantic myself if truth be told.
But alas, good news has been extremely elusive lately, not just in our country Zambia but beyond the sub-region so hold onto the candle of hope, and the real wax candle because you will need it tonight.
High cost of living, fuel prices dominate the media space as hope fadeth away and I don’t wanna be a harbinger here, don’t kill the messenger.
Today, however, outside Zambia a story in Ghana regarding a young lady called Rashida caught my attention like a lightning bolt.
Rashida´s child died in an incubator in Ghana because the ZESCO of Ghana switched off power during a routine schedule the same way our ZESCO does daily.
Rashida as you can imagine is not only grief stricken but livid at the fact that her child died has died because the power company failed in its job. Theres no excuse to that, you can’t compensate a mother for a loss of a child.
Subsequently, Ghanaians took to the streets today demonstrating against the death and asking Mr Nana Akuffo Addo who promised “no load shedding in 2016” during a presidential campaign to step down. Familiar?
The democracy playing field in Ghana still remains high so no one has been arrested for asking President to ´step down´, in Zambia today you have to be careful what you say and where.
But whatever you want to say about President Addo´s government, there´s kudos you must give him, he has stopped power exports to neighbouring countries, Mali, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso in direct response to the protests.
He doesn’t see any sense in exporting power to neighbours at whatever coast as babies die in Ghana.
In Zambia ZESCO management, board and others stay in office draw salaries as Zambians are reduced to fewer and fewer minutes of electricity and shut down poultry and salon business, in an already depressed economy.
The difference between Zambia and Ghana I suppose is that Ghanaians can heckle the President to stop exporting power, in Zambia you can’t even speak against some simple power utility company boss or board chair.
Failure as a corporate is not a punishable offence, we reward you for that in Zambia.
It´s business as usual until we start going without power for days, dead small business shops strewn along the streets abound.
As we try to ´fix the puzzle´ Ghana has stopped power exports to neighbours to save more children from dying in incubators. A challenge for Zambian journalists.
“The lips of the righteous teaches many, but fools die for want of wisdom.”—Peter Tosh.
Amb. AM 09.06.24