GIVEN LUBINDA SAYS NO HOUSEHOLD IN ZAMBIA WOULD HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING LOAD-SHEDDING TODAY IF PF HAD NOT LOST 2021 ELECTIONS
By Chamuka Shalubala
Patriotic Front Acting President Given Lubinda says no household in Zambia would have been experiencing load-shedding today if the PF had not lost the 2021 general elections.
Speaking to phoenix news, Mr. Lubinda contends that the country’s current power challenges are a direct result of stalled progress in the energy sector over the past five years.
Mr. Lubinda explains that when the PF left office, Zambia’s electricity generation capacity had doubled from about 1,600 megawatts in 2011 to around 3,200 megawatts adding that recent additions to the national grid, including projects commissioned under the current regime, were initiated by the PF and have pushed national capacity to above 4,000 megawatts.
He says the former ruling party had a clear long term energy expansion programme and insists that Zambia would have reached 6,000 megawatts of generation capacity by now if the party had remained in power as outlined in its 2021–2026 manifesto.
Mr. Lubinda adds that the pf had planned large-scale investments in solar energy and nuclear power as part of a diversified national energy mix.
PHOENIX NEWS
Utter rubbish from Mr. Lubinda. The issue at hand is not capacity but rather water levels. What would PF have done to compensate for the severe drought? You can have even 10,000 MW installed capacity but if the water levels go below the minimum required to run the turbines you would have to shut down and there would be no electricity.
We have enough capacity. The problem is inadequate water to support electricity generation. If Mr. Lubinda doesnot understand this simple fact, then he shouldn’t be in the running for the party and state presidency. That is why the current government is busy looking at alternatives like solar and coal. They are trying to diversify electricity generation and you would have had to do the same if PF was still in power, that is if PF would have had the wisdom to look at alternatives.
During PF rule, in their usual arrogance and vulgar way of governance they asked us to urinate in the Kariba dam if we wanted electricity.
Bo Lubinda, it pains me to say this, but your words sound less like those of a seasoned elder and more like the careless talk of someone who has forgotten the weight of their own past actions. You once carried the wisdom and responsibility that comes with leadership — yet today, your statements raise the question of whether that wisdom ever guided you at all.
You and your colleagues shaped the very path that brought our nation to its knees — economically, infrastructurally, socially. From the collapsing economy to the electricity crises, from the rise of cadrerism to the broken systems we are still struggling to repair — these wounds did not appear by accident. They were created by decisions made under your watch.
So when you stand before the people of Zambia today, attempting to appeal for their trust, it is not courage you display — it is a painful disregard for the truth. Bo Lubinda, there is a time to speak, and there is a time to reflect. This, truly, should be your moment to bow your head in humility and acknowledge the harm your leadership inflicted.
Bo Lubinda, for once, be ashamed of what you allowed this nation to become. Zambia deserves honesty, not theatrics
Bo Lubinda it is of little wonder why you were clobbered in your own consituence, you were clobbered in Kabwe and now you are yet causing confusion on your own party before you are even elected Party Present.
Maybe Lubinda was out of his mind during the interview due to what’s happening to him and to his party. A sensible and normal person knows that had it not been the severe drought the country had in 2023/24 season, there would have been no load shedding at all. Where could it have come from? And how could it have stayed up to this time? The gentleman could be confused now and the best way is just to ignore him. The load shedding issue will soon be the thing of the past especially after the Tanzania-Zambia power inter-connector is completed.
Very dissapointing for Mr. Given Lubinda to make such utterences even if it was mere politicking. The power deficit in the Country is well known to be due to increase in demand and shortfall in rain. Shame for such leadership praising PF.
Total nonsense from Lubinda, you guys even left a Bill in Mozambique that you failed to settle that HH eventually sorted out. You were running the country on hook and crook basis. Just keep quiet.
There would have been no zambia to talk of had PF won the last election but God found a way to protect us by getting rid of them.