Let’s all share equitably in bitter load shedding cake

By Daily Revelation

Zesco has decided to stagger the 8-hour loadshedding into 4-hour batches at specific periods during the day.

Zesco said this is so because of representation from several stakeholders who argued against the straight 8-hour outages.

We are on record as having strongly felt the 8-hour period is too long in the first place. But if the same has been applied anyway despite the misgiving from the many Zambians then it should be done in a more rational, predictable and nondiscriminatory manner.

The 8-hour load shedding is too long a period to live without electricity in a single day, as a result it will be a huge injustice to see some areas enjoy more periods with electricity than the other areas. If going by the Zesco timetable that electricity in a certain area will go at 14 hours and be restored at 18 hours, then please let it be so, as the incentive for planning on the usage of electricity is even greater now than ever before. People want to utilise the availability of electricity to its optimum during this period of time, therefore it is a huge injustice to the many millions if Zesco is going to operate chaotically on this score.

During this period, there should be no discrimination in terms of the hours some enjoy on the availability of electricity. A minister being feted with public resources and living in the posh areas of Kabulonga for instance must suffer the same 8-hour period of loadshedding as the common welder sweating it out in Kalingalinga every day to make ends meet. The board chairman or managing director in Zesco should not be seen to enjoy more hours of electricity in the area where they reside for instance than is guaranteed for them. And the load shedding timetable must not be made in such a manner that it is always coinciding favourably in areas where some powerful government official or some connected businessman lives.

Like we have said, no one is enjoying staying in the dark during this unfortunate load shedding schedule we are in, this is the bitter cake we all must share from. It can’t be that while the have-nots are already disadvantaged and discriminated against by the haves during the periods of plenty, they should also suffer the injustice of being discriminated against further when things are bad. It should never be allowed for any Zambian anywhere to spend more than 8-hours in the dark during this load shedding schedule.

We also urge Zesco during this period to set the timetable in such a way that the productive sectors can enjoy electricity availability during the most productive periods of the day so that the depressed production output is minimised in order to safeguard output and jobs in the economy.

We also urge the police to intensify especially night patrols because thieves are likely to take advantage of the absence of electricity in several areas to further their criminality in the country. While enhancing security patrols everywhere, across the board, we feel particular attention must especially be channeled towards the poor neighborhoods where access to things that aid security such as gensets, inventors and electric fences may be at a premium. This is another area where again there should be no segregation. This is a bitter national cake we all must share.