The Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Development Christopher Yaluma has terminated the appointment of the current Board members of the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO).
The Minister’s decision to dissolve the ZESCO board is with immediate effect.
This is according to a statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka by the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water Development today.
Mr Yaluma thanked the former ZESCO Board Members for their commitment and dedication during the period they served as Directors of the electricity utility company.
He said a new Board will soon be constituted that will be given a clear mandate to ensure that the company continues to improve its performance.
This week, ZESCO has been in the media for charging domestic consumers more than the commercial consumers. ZESCO Limited Managing Director Cyprian Chitundu told the parliamentary committee on estimates that the two-year electricity freeze will help in mitigating the burden domestic consumers who have for a long time carried burden for commercial consumers such as the mines.
Mr Chitundu said that the electricity tariff freeze will pave way for the introduction of cost reflective tariffs that will capture all users equitably.
Mr Chitundu explained that freezing domestic tariffs and instead hiking tariffs for commercial consumers will enable the latter, who account for over 70 percent, pay tariffs that will be sustainable while giving relief to domestic consumers.
[pullquote]Our domestic consumers have for a long time been paying a much higher tariff than commercial users especially mining companies and we need to resolve the issue.[/pullquote]
“Our domestic consumers have for a long time been paying a much higher tariff than commercial users especially mining companies and we need to resolve the issue. Freezing the tariffs is a good thing because it gives everyone the time to move to cost-reflective tariffs,” he said.
We need to move up so that commercial consumers pay slightly higher because, for instance, mining companies demand more electricity, consuming 50 percent of the electricity generated.”
President Lungu this week approved proposals by the power utility company to freeze domestic consumer tariffs for the next 24 months and to adjust commercial consumer tariffs to make them cost-reflective.
Mr Chitundu however said Zesco is yet to assess the loss following the tariff freeze.
Meanwhile, parliamentary committee on estimates chairman Havie Hamududu challenged Zesco to operate as a commercial entity by introducing tariffs that are cost-reflective unlike the current trend.
Mr Hamududu, who questioned why Zesco has proposed a tariff freeze yet it has been calling for upward tariff adjustment in the past, said electricity has potential to contribute to the national treasury if cost-reflective tariffs are introduced.
More Jobs for the Boys?
This is great now remove ZISC, NAC, zampost Zamtel, ZCCM-IH we need competent persons at the helm not allowance seekers
HH had talked about this in his campaign that he would take away the “donchi kubeba” from ZESCO bill, thereby reducing electricity bill for the people. I guess me like many others didn’t understand what he meant but now here is the “donchi kubeba”.
Time to balance the names between to correct format of sir names. It is all well know which names these two will be.
This is a good foresight and please visit other mine, energy and water development companies under GRZ.
Where is the Minister of Health???????????????????????????????
Time to commercialize these entities is now. Put the shares up for sale on the stock exchange so that ordinary Zambians who can afford the shares can buy into them. No government can justify wasting tax payers money on companies of any kind. They should also privatize those tuma news papers. Let the private media houses buy them. We need to accept that the old way of dealing with the economy has failed.
Clean up the mess both in Government hospitals, Government Agents and institutions that will make your Government deliver serious development now and beyond 2016 to the expectations of your people.Am sure you are more than informed that a lot of people did not support your effort when it mattered most and these should not pretend to be good to you toady simply because you are now in State House.
There are many young men and women who were with you through hard times whilst most big bwanas in higher offices had their legs in two camps and supporting your enemies.
This is time to reflect and put your devoted and loyal team to work.
God bless you your Excellency.
More empty tin cadres to be put on payroll by an equally incompetent waste of space called Minister Christopher Yaluma!!
“ZESCO has been in the media for charging domestic consumers more than the commercial consumers. ZESCO Limited Managing Director Cyprian Chitundu told the parliamentary committee on estimates that the two-year electricity freeze will help in mitigating the burden domestic consumers who have for a long time carried burden for commercial consumers”.
CHITUNDU THAT’S NOT ENOUGH. IN ANY CASE WERE THESE EXPLOITATIONS ON POOR CONSUMERS DELIBERATE? EFYO MWIBILA ABAPINE FYO KANSHI? AT THE SAME TIME YOU CAN’T EVEN SOLVE LOADSHEDDING- ELECTRICITY BLACKOUTS. IN ZAMBIA WHO’S GOING TO END THESE POWER CUTS AND EXPLOITATIVE OVERCHARGING OF POWER?
CONTINUITY FROM 2011 RUPIAH BANDA IN THE DRIVING SEAT,PALYA BASHILILE BALEKONKANYAPO UKWIBA .
FROM THE CARTEL CONTROLLING SATA NOW TO PF WAS AUCTIONED ON A SILVER PLATE TO MMD .
WE CHALO BUNE UBUSUMA ECO NKASHILA BA MWISA .
No no no Chitundu is covering up his incompetence by firing those that did not support Lungu during the intra party elections. Chitundu him self should also go if good results are be to seen at ZESCO
I have a feeling this board dissolution is not done in good faith though it was long overdue.
Lungu should dissolve all boards and fire all parastatal CEOs to start afresh.All parastatal heads with their boards should go for gross incompetence.
All parastatals are in red with huge loses which requires PF government to pump in more money which it does not have at the moment. Its shameful.
Even companies which were profitable during MMD have become completely useless under PF.
PF and Lungu will be under pressure to find money to service the debt and recapitalise these failing…
Mr. Bwalya, hurry. Last chance for crumb or two?
I suspect Father Bwalya aka chikokoshi wants to go to RDA. He failed to work with technocrats at Zesco. He is looking to work with turncoats like himself.
Yes government at work can we clear all those who are not performing.
Edgar Lungu means business
I pray for President ECL health as he continues on his path of serving the people of Zambia delingently. Your excellency we are at your service. Don’t listen to detractors
ALL Zambians should support His a Excellency President Lungu. He is fighting against unjust conduct that leaves Zambians short changed.
What do u mean by support?its not possible due idealogical differences.i favour capitalist approach and pf has a communist approach on economic policy.
ALL Zambians should support His Excellency President Lungu. He is fighting against unjust conduct that leaves Zambians short changed.
Good move Hon. Mukanga we are waiting ZICTA and RDA also.
I am more interested in the FRA board, dissolving it is more urgent than even zesco’s, it’s been idle for a while now no innovative ideas from the whole bunch of the so called directors.. They have even stop televising how much rotten maize is burnt every six months due to fear of exposure of their underperformance..
This is a good foresight and please visit other mine, energy and water development companies under govt.
Kolopa.com. When is the mop visiting ZNBC also, kaili ni kolopa.com
Father Bwalya. Go and and get your job back. A.K.A junior Munkombwe
Thank you your excellence, for this able decision and am sure the Minister knows very well that even ZESCO top management urgently needs new brains. There is a cartel in ZESCO with known people employing relatives all over and the CEO has been supporting this terrible thing that has led to poor financial and technical performance of the company.
Please do more and appoint serious young, dynamic men and women in ZESCO management. Those who work hard are never considered at the expense of this under performing top management.
Mr. Yaluma knows this and we wonder why it has taken so long to clean up ZESCO.
$110 million dollars in debt by one company (KCM) and yet ZESCO is busy borrowing from commercial institutions at very high rates? What about what the public don’t know?
Publish the Vacancies in the papers, hire people based on MERIT
Thank you minister. Now you need to shake up senior ZESCO management.Most are on 3 year contracts which have already come to an end. They have earned hefty salaries and benefited greatly from huge allowance payments. Worse still, most have acquired big Electricity Generators which they would not otherwise buy from normal salaries. You only have o visit ZESCO Directors farms to see for yourself what this is all about. Watchdog please do your homework!
Dont spare ZRA, Water utility companies and GRZ hospitals. More problems there, its kolopa time. Wishes of voters fulfillment.
yaluma should have started with Indeni if he is serious. Time to fire the pimp MD for Indeni is now not later.
H.E. Mr. Lungu needs the support Of every Zambian to bring sanity in ZESCO. Load shedding, low and poor voltages are the order of the day and how do you expect investors to be attracted to potential rural areas and yet these Directors live luxuriously? And why has ZESCO topmanagement allowed some managers to employ only relatives who don’t even perform all over?
The Minister also needs to be supported by every genuine Zambian as he cleans up the mess in these parastatals because during the January election campaigns, people expressed there problems and hardships inflicted by these untouchable top managers. In few months time, it will be campaign time again and people are watching. Action NOW and not empty promises will win the PF 2016.
President Lungu will get support over ZESCO as long as cadres don’t replace cadres. The parastatals have been ruined by PF cadres.
We also know that ZESCO top management has only put one untouchable manager on contract whilst the rest of managers are on pensionable terms. So what’s so special about this person? Why has the ZESCO CEO and its board allowed such injustices on other hard working staff?
If the Minister doesn’t correct the problems of management in ZESCO which has led to poor performance as reported in the media, the company will be like Zambia Airways. It’s also surprising that ZESCO CEO was reporting its company poor performance to the President, WHY? Where has he been all along himself? We are confident the Minister is on top of things and we need to see changes in ZESCO top management too. The promises you made to the electorates are in black and white and we watching.
Viva H.E. ECL
Basic journalism demands that the media answers all the possible questions that the audience may have on the event or article, by using the 5Ws and 1H: who, what, when, where and why, plus how. But this story doesn’t tell us the audience WHO constituted the dissolved ZESCO board, and you wonder why people criticise today’s
Journalism! Go back to school or employer properly trained news editors!
Edgar Lungu wants to appoint his relatives and PF & Rupiah Banda’s carders.
What a useless president Zambia has, being governed by Rupiah a criminal!
This is not SATAs vision as perpetrated be ECL. It is the continuity of Rupiah Banda.
PF is dead.
2016 is coming!!!!!!!!!!!!
Iwe chi mwemba na chi jane mulifupuba sana. Of all the blogs I have read you are the worst and dull chaps. The problem is your brains are on the buttocks.
VIVA !!! EL
PF needs a fresh president, not Rupiah Bwezani Banda.
2016 is near.
Rupiah ruled for a short period of time.
ECL must watch out for 2016. All who supported and voted the ruling party are complaining because things are happening the opposite way. Influenced by RB.
@Bwaamba, don’t be our spokesman, concentrate on your failed undp & it’s tonga wamuyaya president , we understand, appreciate & acknowledge government’s positions on all key sectors of monitoring & development.. We r happy with the on going up to this stage & surely don’t need your advise.
So the whole CEO Mr Chitundu has not assessed how much loss the tariff freeze for domestic consumers will have on ZESCO? So he went to give the President a non-researched story and not a well thought out commercial analysis? Clearly it means that the guy is not bothered about the future of ZESCO. Misleading or cheating the President amounts to treason, muziba ka?
Good Move But we employ you minister to also remove from Zesco UPND cadres who openly campaigned for HH and made use of company resources especially at first floor Head Office Zesco Lusaka
The following are active UPND cadres and actively showed Campaign for HH and UPND and when almost they said will assume senior manager ship taking away fromcurrent
1.Brenda Mambwe
2Prince Matambo
3.Chalimbana
4.Kapepe Fitz
5.Others as can be comfirmed from the urguments on First floor
The above should be allowed to follow many more UPND cadres in Zesco who openly offered support to HH
In fact some one the list where openly threatening workers who supported PF..dont worry soon we are sending a mop! It will kolopa..
What about that imboela chap from CBD kitwe…..i cant see him on this list….he was the one picking parking slots at head office before the election
In true UPND cadre ship Chalimbana even failed aptitude tests but was picked amongst the rest to pursue an MBA which was seen as unfair practice to many
This decision should also be reversed
The unfortunate thing is that ZESCO CEO knows about the chaps in ZESCO who are ant PF big time and this time around there were so sure UPND had won the elections and they openly campaigned against Mr Lungu and started giving themselves positions. Why Mr Chitundu has never acted leaves much to be desired. Is he part to it
We are aware that the top security wings of ZESCO was against Mr. LUNGU and used ZESCO resources to campaign for HH. It may not come as a surprise to learn that some top Directors too were in the UPND camp but pretended to be PF.
Its pathetic to say the least. Some HR manager has been traveling the world employing, promoting relatives and the CEO has been supporting this strange thing in ZESCO. We need fairness based on performance and not the cartels built in ZESCO
Hon yalama do what you can to make this country a beta place. we voted for you and we shall vote for necoz we know PF is doing what we want. we found loadsheding aad 70% it is now at 30%. Go to south Africa and see loadshefing
HH , was the first to say this, it’s me too.
We are in opposition, but working ,checks and balances
First Floor Head Office Lusaka you must be a cheap guy. Every citizen has a right to only support who they want, that does not mean the one who wins should forget all people that did not support him or her. You must really be be an ignorant person who does not understand the meaning of democracy, I also doubt your education background, go back and relearn civics. No wonder you have lots of failing organizations in Zambia, hiring cadres is what has made the country to be underdeveloped.
@john hh said he will disolve zesco, el me too.
Hh says I will be president , el me too?
What ! Is hh our President, noooo .
El we ve constitutional road map, hh me too.
El makes a brilliant appointment, hh I also wanted to do that.
El makes a good move, hh even me I could ve done that.
El again makes a brilliant score, hh it’s rb controlling him. What? Rb!
It’s 2016 and and el has fulfilled all his campaign promises, people of zambia says yes el can continue.
El says I ll be president , hh they ve stolen my votes kikikikiki.
yobo 13, 13
It’s common knowledge that he won.
Would you rather be Rich by stealing from others or Rich through hard work?
Enjoy Your laughter while it lasts…..
NEXT is the FRA Board or the FRA itself. If EL means business, next to follow Must be the Loss Making ZAMTEL board and the other Insolvent parastatals
Is it not the same minister who appointed this board? Why is he changing it now? Or is it one way for Lungu to create jobs for his friends?
Nearly everyone who works at zesco is mediocre. Most are comfortable with what’s going on. As long as they get their check at end of day. Uselessness at its best. The few intellectuals that have tried to make a difference know themselves.
But not in an openly manner debating in offices and championing HH and threatening others with dismissal using
Do it quietly in your heart especially in a sensitive institution that requires remorse
Honnestly preparing to unsit Tembwe,Luswisli and Mataka including Chimya ba Prince Matambo and Chalimbana
We know that is supposed to be gradual and not through support of HH
They should now join HH and other openly who supported HH as we saw at Head office and some stations
I hope you saw the mood at 1st floor and Brenda mambwe leading Kapepe and others and sometimes Mrs Mwape being Ilitated and as the result the campaigns being personally fought
It should not happen again
What of the Zamtel board and CEO? When are they getting fired? It’s clear they must go before they completely grind the company to a complete halt
More changes needed in zesco. How can a degree holder and a grade 7 drop out (cleaner) get the same salary? It’s so unfair.