ENERGY and Water Development Minister Dora Siliya has directed consumer protection bodies in Zambia to ensure that service providers that engage in unfair trading practices are brought to book.
Ms Siliya directed the Energy Regulation Board (ERB), National Water Supply and Sanitation Council (NWASCO), Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) and other stakeholders to ensure that service providers that engage in unfair trading practices were prosecuted.
She said consumers should know that the Patriotic Front (PF) Government puts a premium on consumer protection and hence it would not relent in pursuing measures that were aimed at protecting consumers against unfair trading practices.
Ms Siliya said this in Livingstone yesterday in a speech read for her by her deputy Charles Zulu during the celebrations for the World Consumer Rights Day held under theme ‘Using Water and Energy for Sustainable Development’.
“It is my appeal to all service providers that they should endeavour at all times to provide consumers with access to affordable and reliable service as well as adequate information regarding the availability of the service.
“The consumers should know that they have the right to redress and that the Government has enacted statues and established institutions which are mandated to uphold consumer rights and protect the interests of the consumers,” Ms Siliya said.
She said the Government was committed to ensuring that access to water and energy for all was guaranteed realising that water and energy were fundamental to the achievement of most of the sustainable development goals.
“Access to water and energy has been a priority for the Government over the years. We are cognisant of the fact that the rural parts of the country still face challenges in accessing clean water and sufficient energy.
“It is in view of this that Government has been working on integrated implementation of energy and water strategies without isolating one from the other,” she said.
Ms Siliya said investing in water and energy services essentially leads to increased levels of human health, reduced levels of poverty and indigence, and increased opportunities for education and employment thereby resulting in overall national economic development.
Speaking at the same meeting, ERB Executive Director Langiwe Lungu said the celebrations were key as they were touching on two critical drivers of the economy namely water and energy.
In a speech read for her by ERB senior manager for consumer and public affairs Fred Hangandu, Ms Lungu said the link between water and energy was clearly visible following the unprecedented load shedding being experienced countrywide.
“The water utilities on the other hand, which rely on power supplied by ZESCO, have also had to ration water supply to their consumers which has also had an adverse impact.
“The problem requires concerted efforts from all consumers whether large or small,” Ms Lungu said.
She also urged consumers to conserve energy and water by switching off lights in unoccupied rooms and ensuring that there were no leaking taps around homes among other measures.
Meanwhile, Mr Zulu has cautioned youths against engaging in violence ahead of the August 11 general elections.
Mr Zulu, who donated K1, 000 to Livingstone based acrobats to buy uniforms, said there was need to ensure that violence came to an end in Zambia.
He also said Ms Siliya was expected to issue a comprehensive statement on the fuel shortage which has persisted in Livingstone and other parts of the country.
Siliya, instead of “directing” agencies outside your sphere of influence as the Minister (what a joke) of Energy and Water Development in order to point finger to the failure of your Cabinet “sister” in the Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Industry, please explain us your political stand which will not include “unprecedented development” (another sour joke).
I thought that the two Agencies she has mentioned ERB and NWASCO are within her mandate. CCPC cuts across. She ain’t my cup of tea but she is right on that ba short memory.
Dora Siliya is only useful in bed. A ministerial posting was just way too much. A night out with her wouldn’t hurt!
@ Psyche
“…ENERGY and Water Development Minister Dora Siliya has directed consumer protection bodies in Zambia to ensure that service providers that engage in unfair trading practices are brought to book…”
Unfair trading practices are definitely responsibility of CCPC (whose Board Chairman is certain Kelvin Fube Bwalya). ERB stands for ENERGY Regulatory Body whilst NAWASCO does NOT have any direct mandate to prosecute unfair trading practices.
I have taken note of your comment, nevertheless I stand by may previous entry.
@Suntwe wa Suntwe. That is a degrading comment not only to Dora but Women in Leadership generally. One would think attitudes at this momentous time in Zambia’s development when we are addressing Equalities, you would have felt disinclined to comment so.
It’s disturbing that you feel you can undermining women through sexual violence here. It’s perverted. We have only seen a young UPND supporter shamefully stripped naked during the Youth celebrations. How in consciousness could you have felt your entry was appropriate?
Guess she is planning how she will seduce HH once in office to get back a ministerial positions. Going forward MPs should not Ministerial positions. let ministers be appointed. enough nonsense.
I thought she’ll address the fuel shortage, alas! Maybe she’s realized that her fuel shortages speeches are just one big mounted predictable cliche
Ba Spark Jarrow naimwe….??? Read the very last paragraph of the Article!!
Fuel shortage statement must have come earlier than this speech which was read for her. These people in government foresee such commodity chaos before they happen
Do you need to direct them to do what they were created for…you should ask them if they have the legal muscle to take on useless corporations like Zesco, Mobile Network Providers…
The noted thrust of this article is about protecting Consumer Rights. Dora Siliya has called upon stakeholders and Service Providers to ensure that service providers that engage in unfair trading practices were prosecuted.
Whatever the current state of Fuel,Provision, shortages etc. the gov’t here is clearly moving to ensure Providers work within the law and control of gov’t in this sector. This is a good thing and people concentrating on the current market lead difficulties only are being unfair. Energy and fuel Problems are heightened during difficult periods by greedy providers. Even here in the UK, Providers if left up monitored by Ofcom concentrate on Profits and from time to time it is noted that unfair practices limit fair provisions to users. The integrated control of…
The integrated control of water and fuel, electricity etc. requires constant Ombudsman/Stakeholder representative appraisal to ensure citizens are accessing them fairly.
Surely if you can isolate State House from load shedding you can equally isolate waterworks from loading shedding. A year or so of load shedding this isolation of waterworks could have been done by now. Lusaka is also getting a disproportionate amount of load shedding with the largest population of voters. I am conspiracy theorist. I suspect somebody is undermining PF/ECL at ZESCO.
I concur. Undermining is wide spread.