KATEKA CLAIMS ZESCO’S MISMANAGEMENT LEAVING ZAMBIANS IN THE DARK WHILE UPND IS FOCUSED ON POPULARITY.
She shared…..
For the last three years and a half, the nation has had the worst power load-shedding it has ever experienced since independence.
The UPND government’s explanation has been that ZESCO, our power utility, entered into contracts from which they could not easily extricate themselves. Zambian power has therefore been servicing our neighbouring countries at the expense of our own citizens and at the expense of our own economic growth. Zambians have come to accept this albeit, they have done so rather resentfully.
When any nation has load-shedding, the utility provides power based on a planned schedule to the different areas. They inform their customers, the number of hours they can expect power to be load-shedded for as well as the timings of that load shedding.
ZESCO has miserably failed to do this task that only requires planning and adherence to that plan.
As New Heritage Party, we have consistently complained about ZESCO’s inability to provide this service. This would make the occurrence of load-shedding slightly more bearable as it enables customers, be they businesses or otherwise, to plan their activities.
Today, we woke up to a headline in News Diggers to the effect that Copperbelt Minister Motambo had noted that ZESCO’s inability to make and adhere to their schedules was making the UPND unpopular.
This is indeed a very sad observation by the Minister. His concern should have been noted at least 2 years earlier and should border on the effect that this has on consumers rather than on the popularity of the UPND in government.
If the UPND prioritised the needs of Zambians, their popularity would be guaranteed and they would not need to worry about their waning appeal.
Please serve the Zambian people. Governing the nation based on decisions that are populist rather than what needs to be done, has cost the country dearly.
New Heritage Party in government will prioritise the needs of Zambians over all else.
CHISHALA KATEKA
President – New Heritage Party
Unless urgent measures are taken loadshedding is definitely casting doubts on the ability of this administration to improve people’s livelihoods.
In your reasoning, as a leader you can still produce electricity with your hydro power stations without water in a drought situation? Off course load shedding was a very big inconvenience, what could you have done or what did you advise government to do. You must realise the portion of power government exported on existing contracts, were not going to make a difference to load shedding. That’s the problem with the current opposition. You fail to high issues that require solutions by proposing alternative concrete solutions. Big on spinning and propaganda.
Brother James contracts are not cast in iron. There is a section in every well written contract which lays down conditions that can trigger contract cancelling. One of these conditions is called faux majeure. Even active contracts can be cancelled once a condition of this nature happens like in this case a drought is faux majeure and has rendered a party to a power supply contract to have delivery issues. First priority for every serious government is its citizens…which is clear this is not the case for UPND government. With them business comes before citizens. We see this every day. Ba madan is correct. Let’s not do politics here. As Zambians we suffer load shading yet foreigners in the mines and big business right here in Lusaka don’t experience it. Go to Emmasdale see for yourself. Those Indians don’t know load shedding. New Kasama knows no load shedding…the list is endless. The rich and foreign capital don’t share our grief. Period. Foreigners’ money is externalized to Florida, New York, London, Dubai, Canada and Australia while we watch helplessly. Meanwhile the people we entrusted with our lives are already rich and don’t care.
Coming to power. Lusaka needs just over 600 MW. I have done a rough estimate because a household needs an average of 4 kw and there are 7 constituencies of roughly 20,000 households.
Recently the nation saw his excellency flagging off 100 mw solar to Kansanshi mine. That could have easily come to Mandevu constituency if they cared for the citizens but they don’t. Instead they gave foreign capital. We are doing a dual carriageway that is going to be carrying 1 car per hour after Chisamba turnoff because that is where the road traffic congestion ends on the Lusaka side. At Kafulafuta congestion ends from the copperbelt. From Kapiri to Nakonde there is no traffic except for Tanzania trucks. My point is: we were supposed to prioritize solar power to citizens, most of whom have no cars, to useless unjustified infrastructure whose ARR, ROI and ROIC are all way below 5%. Investment on solar and wind power would have been less than what they are throwing on this worthless politically motivated and ego fuelled white elephant. The load shedding issue classically shows the ego problem of this regime and regardless of whatever you praise singers are saying poor Zambians must vote you guys out. As you have seen in my writeup I am apolitical. I hate governments that lie to people and fail to deliver and instead try to speak business jargon and vain economics to poor uneducated Zambians. I detest this. I am educated but unlike Some people whose parents sold cattle to send them to school my father had to struggle as a common driver living in Matero with 21 people in a single bedroom house. That is one of the reasons I don’t like politicians.
I rest my case.