By a Correspondent
OPPOSITION political parties will mobilise citizens to stage countrywide mass protests against Zesco Limited if it does not reduce the number of load shedding hours in the next few days, Citizens First (CF) President Harry Kalaba has warned.
Last week Zesco Limited started countrywide load shedding of electricity lasting 12 hours as a result of a serious power deficit allegedly caused by low levels at the main power plant at Kariba Dam.
The unprecedentedly lengthy power outages have sparked a nationwide outcry especially among poor domestic consumers and those who depend on small businesses.
Zambia has been exporting lectricity to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which are also experiencing deficits.
The Ministry of Energy announced last week that government had decided to reduce the number of megawatts of electricity it was exporting to other countries without giving figures.
But Mr Kalaba said in a statement streamed live on his Facebook page on Friday night it was not enough for the government to just announce that it was reducing the quantity of power it was exporting without reducing the hours of load shedding.
“This government has been taking Zambians for granted. If you have reduced the number of megawatts you are exporting you also reduce the number of loadshedding hours from 12 hours,” he said.
The opposition was monitoring the situation to see if the load shedding hours would not be cut drastically in the next few days.
“We are going to organise ourselves as the opposition. We’re going to organise the masses out there. We’re going to get permits and will organise a countrywide demonstration because there is no way we are going to be losing man hours while those who should be looking into this problem are just seated like that,” Mr Kalaba said.
Opposition parties would stand for the people of Zambia because the United Party for National Development (UPND) was taking them for granted without caring about the negative impact of its decisions and actions.
Last Thursday, Mr Kalaba had urged the government to reduce the quantity of electricity it was exporting and cut the number of load shedding hours from 12 hours to at least three.
During one of his radio appearances State House spokesperson Anthony Bwalya echoed President Hakainde Hichilema’s statement that government would not cancel power export contracts because it did not want to lose business.
But Government has back-pedaled under intense public pressure by announcing a reduction in the megawatts of the power it is selling to other countries.