UPND President has said there are various complaints in various parts of the country, particularly Eastern, Muchinga, Northern, Luapula and parts of Central Provinces regarding the unprecedented powercuts since last week Friday. He said this is not a matter that needs to be politicised as people’s lives are in danger as water utility companies in these areas have now been severely affected and are unable to pump water.
Mr.Hichilema said this is a national crisis and disaster that needs urgent attention as it may lead to water borne diseases such cholera and dysentery. He wondered how hospitals and clinics in these areas are coping. He hoped that resources have been channeled to these affected areas to alleviate the problems, especially the provision of safe and clean drinking water, standby generators and fuel so that lives are not lost in the affected areas.
Mr.Hichilema said he is fully aware of the need to seriously overhaul the operations of our power utility company, (ZESCO)which has been heavily politicised leading to sheer incompetence.
“It is on record that ZESCO received the biggest share of the borrowed Euro Bond money that was meant to upgrade it’s operations through procurement of quality equipment, but to date, they cannot account for the money,”he said.
Mr.Hichilema said the UPND has always emphasised on the need to channel resources towards the improvement of power generation equipment and investment in other sources of energy to reduce the current increased loadshedding in the country which has affected production and doing business at all levels, especially the small scale.
Mr.Hichilema challenged those who are clinging onto power to immediately dispatch teams of experts to the affected areas and channel resources to help Zambians other than globe trotting and earning huge allowances when the masses are suffering.
Allocation from the USD 750 Million Bond to ZESCO as at 31st March, 2014;
1) Kafue Gorge Lower Power Project [ZESCO]: US$186 Million was allocated for this programme.
2) Power Distribution Project [ZESCO]: US$69 Million was allocated for this programme.
Well said your Excellency! We need to have people appointed on merit in these strategic institutions, not based on how loud you sing your praises to the appointing authority. How could we have the likes of Frank Bwalya chairing the board at such an important company?? Glad he just resigned on his own for gross incompetence.
Your excellence my foot. Oooh I forgot his excellence for the bantustan
not quiet sure it is Zesco to blame here HH
The problem is deep rooted than that HH.
You are also assuming that ZESCO were given as big a chunk as was reported in the press.
The bigger problem lies far more at the top than ZESCO, who have had a high turnover of their staff at the helm than should be.
The bottom-line is, you have to privitise the company.
Just like the UK Government did with the Rail, BT, Thames Water, that way you can actually hold people accountable for.
The planning was never there to start with and what I do know is, Lungu is not the person to fix this. It might be in the short term more so during the elections but you need to privatize the whole thing.
Thanks
BB2014
The danger of always opposing is that you even oppose nature. This man will never come out of opposition. He enjoys and love to oppose.
“Mr.Hichilema challenged those who are clinging onto power to immediately dispatch teams of experts to the affected areas and channel resources to help Zambians”………..he’s always 20 steps behind………govt has already done what he’s talking about,it was on ZNBC news yesterday.
Lusaka Central seat nullified!!
The problem i see is we have a cult in PF named PF, No matter what wrong is done they will still attack somebody else and forget about the problem. Instead os asking how such huge amount of money was used they are focusing on HH, I think i a normal society people would raise up and ask how the huge Euro bonds where used now that the country has no money and there is nothing to show on how the money was used. Look at Zesco, Zambia railways etc, Money was pumped in but its the same old song and PF thugs are busy attacking HH instead of asking for their money which they will have to pay back, By the way its not PF and EL who will pay back this money but the same poor Zambians, What a country.
This is Demagoguery at its best. Construction of Kafue Gorge Lower Power Station is in progress sir. Visit the site and see for yourself.
What? Truly those figures where paid to zesco, it is possible to create another zesco from such amounts HH is making up. Bring Zesco Parliament and testify.
Throw in ACC in that Euro bond tumone.
@Nostradamus
Kekekekekekekekekekrkrkrk tumone
Just sit down Iwe Free Mason. In Dundumwezi, lightening is normal but elsewhere it causes force majeure things what happened in Serenje. For once offer constructive criticism not vyaupuba vyamene ukamba apa so
Banoko ichiyo Nchimunya
Under KK we didn’t see these problems – STOP blaming it on nature. YABA
IT IS PURE LACK OFVISION AND INVESTMENT BYT THE VISIONLESS LEADERS. PURE LACK OF QUALIFIED PERSONNEL WHO CARE FOR ZAMBIA’S INFRASTRUCTURE
HH please! That is a natural disaster which can take place anywhere. It lightening that struct the power lines.
@obatala you will be obliterated by your obsolete absolute skunkidity.
Iwe @The Imprisonment of Obatala, don’t confuse natural disaster with incompetence. Those Kariba walls will not hold the water even if the natural disaster ends. They have not been well maintained since you inherited them from the colonialists 50 plus years ago. If you read up you see that there is a huge bill to do those works… See how you belittle God and nature!
Are you saying there was no lightening when Kaunda and Chiluba in power?
Wanting to gain political mileage napashili? Ata
Nichipuba chi HH
From the above comments, one can tell people are quick to attack HH and forget about the problems the country is facing..am not UPND though if this attitude continues we as a country will forever remain poor because we spend all our energy oppressing the opposition and defending grz.
The problem in Zambia is that people have gotten used to poor services and extreme poverty which they have embraced as normal !!They will attack anyone who shows a bit of intelligence…….for intelligence is so painful to their little pathetic foolish brains. Are you aware that only 18 % of Zambians have access to electricity?? This after 52 years of so called independence. Lets get back to upper and lower roll voting system based on one’s academic qualifications, otherwise we will be forever be led by fools voted into power by the likes of “imprisonment Obatala”
Powerlines only and it has taken you 6 days to fix, watmo earthquake? Where infrastructure like housing, roads, Powerlines, water are all down to top it up you need to feed the masses, this country is so ill prepared for disasters.
What Zambians allow their leaders to do….No wonder Zambia will never develop. This kind of financial mismanagement should not be tolerated by every citizen. Not just the opposition. Be objective, folks!!
Fools in PF can;t understand. Bafikala!
Nothing from this chap
Mushota well spoken a leader must research before opening their mouth, emotional statements reeks emotion. When one yoks themselves to court and process over non issues the results speak volumes you become irrelevant to high cost of living that pooe people in our country are facing…2021 Unpd Zambia Forward under new leadership
I think Mushota is agreeing with HH. However the only inclusion I can see is that the problem needs to be nipped right at the bud, in this case the top leadership of the country has no capacity to think beyond what is currently in their eyes. They are so incompetent that even when such disasters come, the country seems to come to a stand still.
This country needs complete overhaul. I really don’t know who can do that in this current regime.
If HH had been this analytical and sober maybe I could have given him my vote. Yes ZESCO is very incompetent and this has been growing over the years. Before prepaid metres we used to receive abnormal bills but since then I’ve only been buying power at less than one third each month. You no longer see Zesco employees drinking endlessly. Just like the defunct UBZ, Contract Haulage, ZESCO is just a waste of resources.
This is PF for you
There you go again. Why can’t you put politics aside and look at issues in their true context? The ZESCO problems are not new and the only solution is to sell it instead of pouring money into this bottomless pit.
@obatala Natural disaster or not, we pay Zesco a lot of money through bills and government funding therefore we expect good returns by of expedient correction of problems.
Comment:This man was on muvi tv saying lungu had switched of power so that people don’t watch him. So lungu can send lightening, how childish!
By the way, when is HH term as UPND president ending?
Need some fresh air in that space mweeh!
Worry about your kid who has to close school and sent home , because zesco is not supplying power, no water from water utility companies. Did your mother teach you any manners?
@changeweneed your name smells like janjaweed, we don’t need such rebellious skunks.
Ask your wizard father
HH being at the helm of UPND does not affect you and me and remember whoever pays the piper calls the tune but having an incompetent head of state spells doom for the citizenry its a fact we can’t run away from…
The man is speaking about what could happen if we fail to take precautionary measures. Instead, you call him names. What about the plight of those people who are suffering and if these measures are not looked into, what will happen to our fellow Zambians? I don’t get how we think.
HH with all the knowledge and links you have with the west. Why not start a project ie Solar. Then maybe as a country we can see you as someone helping the people. The issue with all these parastatals is Boma should have 0 involvement. ZESCO will not get private engagement or investment with mismanagement.
iwe HH your sentiments create an impression that you are the most competent and intelligent person in Zambia. the situation the provinces you mentioned are in is a disaster and people are working to address the problem. even if ZESCO got the whole Eurobond, it would not change the fact that a disaster happened. keep quite and just allow people to do their job
Guys we are beating this country out of shape by running away from the main points. KK had his share of Zambianization where incompetents began to take root in important positions. Now, so many decades later we have the blooming of those actions. Our leadership and policy direction is knee-jerk, borrowing monies without proper groundwork. ZESCO currently has engineers running it and they are OK. The problem, like Mushota says, is what the so-called policy makers are impacting on them.
My advise to HH is to swallow his bright and start afresh in preparing and positioning himself and his party for the 2021 presidential elections than wasting his precious time and energy on matters that will not work out as things stands now.
HH nowadays speaks like a cadre with a small brain floating on water. I think HH sent that “Kulumba” on the transmission lines. He burnt stock pile of fiber optic cables in Lusaka. They planned the sequence of events that they sabotage the spare cables before damaging the transmission lines so that it takes long to repair. They did not know that it was fiber cables they were burning. Someone must find out what madumbo is doing. Why is he so quite. What I saw on the picture is not lightening but 66kV short circuit.
I wonder whether you have head of equipment protection from lightening and the like. This problem has nothing to do with nature but monitoring and equipment protection and maintenance. Let’s not always give nature as an excuse. There is lightening all over the world. But other countries are prepared for it and other disasters. Incompetence is incompetence period. It’s not political.
Cry my beloved country. Zambia is destroyed. No planning, no implementation.
No vision No policies, No Planning – ATI SONTAPO – YABA
That was a fabulous speech and thank you for the figures Mr. HH, however, the power lines were brought down by the FORCE OF MOTHER NATURE. ASK THE AMERICANS,JAPANESE,MEXICANS and other countries where Hurricanes, typhoons and Earthquakes are frequent. The FORCE OF NATURE REALLY PACKS A PUNCH.. Since God is always fair, and just, am sure he will give you a sample through MOTHER NATURE in 2021 when you become president of Zambia and a real your excellence….
I REALLY FAIL TO COMPREHEND HOW SOME PEOPLE’S REASONING WORKS. TO THEM WHOEVER IS DOING FINE, IS A FREE MASON / SATANIST. I HOPE U ARE AWARE THAT EVEN THE “POOR” MAN U SUPPORTED IS NOW ONE OF THE RICHEST MEN IN OUR COUNTRY. ON ONE HAND, WE CALL HH NAMES, ON THE OTHER HAND, MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE IS SINGING PRAISE OF ZAMBEEF’S INVESTMENT IN ZAMBIA. LETS RAISE ABOVE MEDIOCRITY AND BEGIN TO APPRECIATE OUR FELLOW ZAMBIANS WHO HAVE WORKED HARD TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES & THOSE OF OTHERS
Just thinking about HH and his followers????????
SONTAPO
kansi a party leader is called your excellency?
Bantustan ranting as usual.
We will try you in 2041
OK. I DONT SUPPORT HH. IN FACT I CAN NEVER VOTE FOR HIM. BUT HERE HE HAS SAID SOME TRUTHS. ZESCO IS NOT PERFORMING TO EXPECTATIONS. THIS ONE MAY BE A DISASTER, GRANTED. BUT THERE IS MORE THAN THE SIMPLE EYE CAN SEE. MAAMBA JUST OPENED AND SUDDENLY LINES TRIPPED. LOAD SHEDDING IS NOT MAKING SENSE, AND NOW THIS. AT ONE TIME IT WAS BLAMED ON WATER LEVELS, BUT AGAIN THE STORY HAS CHANGED. ITS TOO MUCH.
SO DO NOT VOTE FOR HH… YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SUPPORT HIM AND YOU DO NOT EVEN HAVE TO LIKE HIM. YOU HAVE A CHOICE.
IN PF THEY CALL IT SONTAPO
@Onetime. Learn to speak for your self. simple advice remove the letter WE and replace it with I
Is HH learned or politics make even learned people dull?HOW CAN ZESCO CUT POWER IN 5 PROVINCES FOR A WEEK AND STAY HAPPILY?zesco via znbc showed the nation what happened to its transmission lines in serenje.what happened there is a disaster.instead of feeling sorry for residents in those 5 provinces,hh is here mocking them-amazing!!thats why hh will never win in those 5 provinces!!!there are must be some truths in the way politics are done and not the way hh does his politics!!I CAN NEVER EVER VOTE FOR THIS EVIL MAN CALLED HH!!
If 5 provinces have had no power since Saturday why are we experiencing increased load shedding because there is excess power that was supposed to go these provinces? As any competent electrical engineer will tell you, you can not store power. So where is that power and why is ZESCO not using this excess power to reduce load shedding for this period? Please explain this or bring back Chitundu otherwise we shall conclude the load shedding is a result of incompetence at ZESCO.
HH is spot on. He is a practical man. That’s why PF praise singers hate him because he brings out their incompetences. He has already told you using numbers that Zesco got the largest share of the Euro Bond and you are disputing. Numbers dont lie. I know that you are finding it difficult to admit that your fraudulent president has no clue whatsoever on how a country is governed. He is experimenting and he even goes to the Arab countries to plead with them to come to Zambia.
Zesco should be focusing on halting load shedding but they focus more on their football team
Why only PF strong holds?
The government always talk about diversity. Are we going to continue on the same path of economical agenda of depending on hydro-power, still depending on selling raw copper materials, for 50+ years.
During UNIP rule people were saying may be educated people can govern better. Now we have graduate from law school at the helm.
Government can deliberately introduce the policy of encouraging those who can afford to mount solar panels at there homes, if more than 5millions house holds have solar panels then power is saved.
In Canada the government has introduced the policy of mounting power solar on there farms then extra power is transferred to the main grid and the power company buys.
If we have people with no selfish interests we can already pass this stage.
We have educated thieves in power in Zambia that is the problem. Visionless, selfish leaders who are in power to line their pockets with gold, dollars, name ot, worth…!
Zambia has sunshine throughout the year and solar energy would be the way to go like Rwanda has done. Rwanda a war-torn nation is doing far much better than Zambia, even with less donar funds going into the country, as the west have boycotted the current leader. They are doing a great job compared to Zambia, where we have had no single civil war.
PUT SOLAR PANELS and generate powr that way.
It has nothing to do with nature – it is just lack of vision
Imwe ba mbuli who’s brighter hh or ecl you know the answer but the problem you have is what they call blind loyalty some one is leading you to certain death you still singing praise’s.their is no money coming from western countries now he’s busy begging from Arabs what Arab investment is he talking about these guys have wars to fund not vision less drunkards
FOOLS WILL REMAIN FOOLS FOR THOSE WHO ARE FOOLISH,I DONT SEE ANY PROBLEM THE OPPOSITION ADVISING THE RULING PARTY ON DOING THINGS THAT ARE FOR THE BENEFIT TO THE ZAMBIAN.THE PROBLEM IS SOME YOU ARE DRUNK WITH POLITICS WHERE EVEN ON THINGS THAT ARE NOT POLITICAL YOU BRING IN POLITICS.HH MENTIONED TO SAY THIS IS NOT POLITICAL BUT TO SAVE LIVES OF PEOPLE THE PF IS RULING!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOME OF YOU ARE CADRES WHO ARE JUST TO COMMENT WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THE WHOLE CONCEPT,THESE ARE THE SAME CHECKS AND BALANCES THE OPPOSITION IS DOING.YOU PEOPLE WHO SEES YOUR FRIENDS TO BE VIPUBA WHEN THEY TALK OF THINGS REASONABLE YOU ARE WORSE AND U ARE THE SAME WHO ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE VANISHING OF CHRISTIAN VALUES TO THE COUNTRY…………………
Vyakulola vye pasambia
THIS HH CHAP IS A FOOL. WHO COULD HAVE PLANNED WHAT HAPPENED IN THE AREA OF PENSULO SUB-STATION. AND WHAT HAS EAROMONEY GOT TO DO WITHN THIS. GRO UP YOU MORON. YOU CAN BUT A NEW SHIRT TODAY, WEAR IT ON YOUR FIRST DAY AND IT COMES OFF AT THE SEAM, WHOSE FAULT IS IT? GROW UP YOU BAFOON.
HH opposing everything is actually wrong, we know PF has taken this country down but we need to look into solutions and advise
THE LIGHTENING STORY IS NOT TRUE. THE EQUIPMENT IN QUESTION HAS POWER SURGE PROTECTORS. BESIDES AFTER ALL THESE YEARS OF OPERATION ZESCO WOULD ONLY NOW BE HIT WITH LIGHTENING? COME PEOPLE WE CAN’T BE THAT GULLIBLE. I DONT BLAME PF FOR ALL THAT’S GOING WRONG AT ZESCO. BUT THE PF HAS TO CORRECT THE SITUATION FAST. THIS WAS EQUIPMENT FAILURE DUE TO USING OUTDATED AND SUBSTANDARD EQUIPMENT. NOTHING ELSE. NOT BOZA ATI KALEZA KANI NGAMBE!!!!
Lack of proper effective maintenance by Zesco. Why didn’t the requisite protection trip to protect the line? In a way being pro-poor is also killing us slowly and certainly. Brave decisions needed to save zesco!
This is a national disaster! 5/10 provinces without power for 5days now and bloggers make fun of anyone raising the concern? Put ourselves in the position of those in affected areas. Are u aware that even as dire the situation is, the MD for ZESCO is out of the country in Canada. What is it, keeping him there when half the country is off and he is CEO in charge? Does one not see that there’s misplaced focus?
Euro Bond has been the most plundered loan in Zambia’s history. All that money and nothing to show for it. Look at the said ZESCO, and to that include ZRL, ZAMTEL and the incomplete roads and building projects. And you wonder how Kambwili has so many houses? Thieves came to town and took us Zambians to the gates of hell.
A bunch of thieves. HH is right, ZESCO is slow alleviate the argent problem at hand. If People like HH keeps quiet ,nothing that can be done. Afterwards we are all Zambians who knows what happens. Football has failed , ok lets vote, votes are stolen. Who can challenge me of something really working out in Zambia today? Teachers are charged huge moneys ton pay to the council which is too much even those from private school who are poorly paid. Sucking poor Zambians ;who can challenge me of any Zambian pride today?cost of living has gone higher. Leave HH alone!
The issue you are discussing here was resolved yesterday around 22:00 hours!
The damaged equipment had to be replaced and it was not available locally so it was flown in. Very expensive, but necessary.
It should not have happened in the first place
Wether you like HH or not,he has a point on this one.Whatever amount was given to ZESCO from the EUROBOND was not properly invested into POWER GENERATION projects.Plus ZESCO is full of incompetent people,both Engineers and Non Engineering staff are all LAZY and BOASTFUL CHAPs. Nowonder they couldn’t let HH win,he was going to get rid of such useless parastatals.Being a businessman that he is.
Oh my God, oh my Jesus Christ, oh my heart, oh my children, oh our country! Oh this donkey of mine!
I wish this child of a politician would learn to leave matters of ignorance to more knowledgeable people. This is utter ignorance for someone who once vied for the highest office in the land. The ignorance is daily eroding any little confidence that he may have left in people.
Atase ati ba president!! Hiho hiho hiho hiho
When HH speaks like this it means that he knows something. Unfortunately what happemed has nothing to do with what happened. Please HH, tell us what kind of lightning you sent on the power line. Have the people in the five provinces risen again the government? No?
Is it a wonder that Zambia is where it is? Instead of responding point by point to what HH has stated, those who appear to be feeding from the PF banquet table simply dismiss him with hate. Meanwhile they maybe speaking from areas that are ‘privileged’ and are not affected as much by the power cuts – forgetting that people who have had no power for six days are suffering immeasurably. Effects on business, hospitals, water provision are real. What are some good for nothings arguing about? In developed countries people are compensated even for just a few hours of power cuts caused by nature. It is unfathomable how people can defend the indefensible and management mediocrity that is plain to see. There is a complete lack of culture to take those in responsible positions to account.