By Chinoyi Chipulu
A Catholic Priest Father Andrew Chewe Mukosa says it is criminal for Zesco to increase electricity tariffs when the reason advanced to apply for emergency tariff adjustments has not been achieved.
And Fr. Mukosa of St. Francis Catholic Church in Kapesha, Mansa district, has wondered why the UPND government is so keen on selling and exporting electricity to other countries when the country is grappling with power deficiency.
The Catholic priest also questioned how much the country was getting from the export of electricity.
In a statement, Fr. Mukosa further wondered where the money the country was getting from exports was going or how the money was helping the majority of the Zambian population.
“I leave the stage with three very critical and analytic questions. Why are the tariffs very expensive when we get load shadded so much and only get a few hours of electric power? Why is the current leadership so keen at selling and exporting electricity to other countries if and when we do not have enough for our own citizens?” he asked.
Fr. Mukosha pointed out some of the underlying causes of electricity power shortage in Zambia and the failure of the Zambian government to effectively provide electricity to the Zambian population.
He stated that Zambia had been growing to static infrastructure, adding that the electricity producing infrastructure called Kafue plant had very minimal expansion during the timeframe.
“Let’s go back in time to after our Independence in 1964, our country Zambia has been expanding and growing in its population. Our population in the 1960’s was approximately 3.045 million people, the projection of our population in 2025 according to the census carried out is approximately 21,314, 956 million people,” he stated.
Fr Mukosa stated that apart from human population growth and expansion, there had been massive industrial and business expansion also totally dependent on this static electricity production plant.
“This explains the traditional and historic etymology why we are suffering from massive load shedding and electricity power cuts and terrible acute shortages of electricity,” he stated.
And Fr. Mukosa noted that Zesco applied to the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) for the increase in tariffs, and the reasons advanced were that the utility company needed money for imports of power to mitigate the acute shortage of it.
“This statement was accompanied by a promise of at least 7 hours of electricity per day. This didn’t happen. Zesco has been told to stop imports of power on account of imported power being very expensive. This is criminal because the reason advanced when they applied for emergency tariff adjustments hasn’t been achieved,” he stated.
Fr Mukosa stated that today, Zesco was not importing any power yet the utility company was making citizens pay high emergency tariffs.
He stated that this was a broad daylight robbery.
“Educate me on a better word to use. It should be born in the citizens minds that Zesck is still exporting power to Namibia, Botswana and Congo DR despite the energy crisis that the country is facing. At the same time, they have stopped imports of electricity on account of it being too expensive,” he stated.
The Catholic priest stated that this would definitely result in creating a more complicated situation for the country.
“The Kariba Dam, Itezhitezhi Dam, Kafue Gorge Upper and Lower Dams are at their peak between 90 and 120 days from the last rains. This happens around May to June. The catchment area consisting of tributaries that empty into both Zambezi and Kafue River are located in Western, North Western and Copperbelt Provinces. These places have received average rainfall,” he stated.
Fr. Mukosha stated that the depletion of water during the 2024 period due to massive exports of power had created a situation that would make dams not to be filled up to capacity.
“I am afraid to mention that the continued export while stopping imports will have a more adverse effect on the country’s power situation. This is because the water levels will not rise due to the rapid depletion caused by the exports and local supply,” he stated.
Fr Mukosa stated that this would worsen the already strenuous power situation for the country spelling doom for both ordinary citizens and industries.
