By Chamuka Shalubala
ZESCO Managing Director Justin Loongo has expressed cautious optimism that the 2025/26 rainy season will bring improved rainfall in key catchment areas, raising hopes for inc
reased water levels and better power generation.
Mr. Loongo tells Phoenix News that the latest forecasts point to a positive shift that could ease the current electricity shortages if sufficient rainfall is received in the Kafue and Kariba basins.
He explains that despite last year’s widespread floods in regions such as Lusaka and Muchinga, those areas lie outside the main catchment zones that feed Zambia’s major hydroelectric reservoirs leaving no significant impact on water levels in the Kafue river and Kariba dam.
Mr. Loongo says the Kafue catchment received inadequate rainfall during the last season, leading to reduced inflows and severely limiting generation capacity.
Meanwhile, the ZESCO Managing Director has reiterated that some residential areas are still receiving more than 10 hours of power supply daily despite the ongoing energy constraints.
PHOENIX NEWS
We were told it takes about 3 months for the water to collect and fill the dam. This was several months ago. Then there was the story of a 100MW or so solar plant that was projected to ease our pain. Now there is this. Why is everyone playing politics? It doesn’t make sense.
Very inconsistent updates, I wonder why it’s difficult just to tell the truth. I would fire all these incompetent chaps from ZESCO if had an opportunity. As a matter of fact any project has time frames but ZESCO engineers operate in darkness and they have no clue about their projects. There’s different reports that get issued all the time.