President Edgar Lungu called for the 20th Cabinet Meeting on Monday, 4th November, 2019 to mainly discuss policy matters aimed at addressing the electricity challenges the country is currently going through and ensure the continued development of the country. The following were the decisions made by Cabinet:
1. National Energy Policy, 2019.
Cabinet, approved the Revised National Energy Policy, 2019 in order to guide the development and management of the energy sector. The Revised National Energy Policy 2019 builds on previous Policies of 1994 and 2008 and is anchored on the Seventh National Development Plan and Vision 2030.
The Government decided to revise the 2008 Policy with a view to comprehensively address the challenges currently being experienced in the energy sector. The Revised Policy aims at facilitating open access regimes, cost reflective tariff in the pricing of energy services in order to promote investment, encourage the multiplicity of players in the energy market and promote alternative sources of energy such as geo-thermal, solar, wind and other technologies such as nuclear energy.
2. The Energy Regulation Bill 2019
Cabinet also approved for publication and introduction in Parliament, “The Energy Regulation Bill, 2019,” during the current sitting.
The objects of this Bill are to, continue the existence of the Energy Regulation Board and provide for the licensing of enterprises in the energy sector and repeal and replace the Energy Regulation Act, 1995.
Cabinet is of the view that the Energy Regulation Act, Cap. 436, is inadequate in dealing with various issues related to the licensing of enterprises in the energy sector during this period, hence the need to introduce a new legislation. The new legislation is in line with the approved Revised Energy Policy 2019 in addressing the energy problems the country is currently going through.
3. The Electricity Bill, 2019.
During the same Meeting, Cabinet approved the publication and introduction in Parliament of “The Electricity Bill, 2019.” The objects of this Bill include among others, to regulate the generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity so as to enhance the security and reliability of the supply of electricity; provide for the sale and purchase of electricity within and outside Zambia through power purchase and power supply agreements; provide the roles and responsibilities of various players in the electricity sector including providing for a Multi-year Tariff Framework.
Cabinet expressed the need to urgently address the current electricity challenges the country is going through due to the effects of climate change that have led to reduced water levels for electricity generation, thereby leading to reduced economic activity with increased electricity rationing through load shedding. Cabinet emphasised that with serious implementation of the 2019 National Energy Policy, the Energy Regulation Act and the Electricity Act, the situation with regard to electricity generation and supply to industries and Zambians in general, should change in the shortest possible time.
4. National Off-Grid Solar Mini-Grid Project.
Cabinet also approved the implementation of the National Off-Grid Solar Mini-Grid Project as an alternative to the reduced hdro-power generation due to lower water levels.
The National Off-Grid Solar Mini-Grid Project will facilitate increased access to electricity by the rural population in Zambia; contribute to improved productivity and quality of life and contribute to improved social service delivery. Cabinet is already looking at implementation of alternative sources of electricity generation as an immediate answer to the electricity shortages the country is faced with as a result of climate change.
5. The National Strategy on Financial Education II, 2019-2024.
In winding up debate for the day, Cabinet also approved the National Strategy on Financial Education (NSFE) II, 2019-2024 in order to strengthen financial education in Zambia and develop a competitive and resilient inclusive financial sector in line with the National Financial Sector Development Policy (NFSDP) and National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) 2017.
The development of the National Strategy on Financial Education II, which builds on the first Strategy, is essential with the primary goal of having a financially educated Zambian population by 2030.
The Strategy aims at improving knowledge, understanding, skills, motivation and confidence to help the Zambians secure positive financial outcomes for themselves and their families which will contribute to reduced poverty levels and stimulate economic growth. The Strategy will also contribute to the development of a stable, resilient and inclusive financial sector that contributes to economic growth and broad-based wealth creation.
Discussing how to secure a horse after it has already bolted!
The electricity crisis is here, what where you doing all this time before we got to this point?
We all know that our electricity is 99% hydro & the signs of poor rain fall have been seen year after year yet there has been no policy change at govt level to put in measures like zero tax on solar implements, LED lights etc that would show a deliberate action from govt that they are serious in making sure that energy supply becomes a priority action.
Now you are discussing nonsense in the dark. 2021 is around the corner
Your hate for PF will kill you. They have not been idle. They took action years back. Look at the new schemes they are putting up round the country.
Solar equipment has always been on lower import taxes.
ZESCO is equally putting up a solar facility that will generate 750MW next year. You really wonder where these upnd supporters get their information. They have already started psyching themselves for 2021 thinking it’s their year-a good strategist will use the recent by-elections as reference and for upnd there’s cause for worry.
Finally, the long awaited cabinet meeting. Am sure the furniture in the room used for cabinet meeting has collected layers and layers of dust. The minister of all things and president of nothing has been busy issuing solo directive on behalf of all ministries. Meantime the ministers know nothing about what is happening.
Hopefully this once in a moon cabinet meeting will yield something positive. We have no idea when the next one will be. Maybe after 2021. Meantime the minister of all things will continue giving empty “directives” that are always ignored by his minions.
@Journeyman-if you choose to only hear things that you want, so it shall be. How can a normal person think cabinet doesn’t convene on a timely basis?? That’s watchdog cr@p!! You can contribute better only if you put partisan interests and tribal inclination aside and choose pragmatism. No government worldwide is perfect.
Energy Policy and other institutional policy changes ought to be proactive rather than reactive.
All Government Ministries, Agencies and SOEs need to have active R&D Departments in order to increase new knowledge base in all sectors of life. Riding on a 20th century Energy Regulation Act of 1995 speaks directly to the lag and stagnance and lukewarm approaches to more modern lifestyles and technology needs.
National Energy Policies of 1994 and 2008 are frail and expired a long time ago. Has Nkhuwa been sleeping? I demand proactivity on issues of national interest such as policies.
Damn it, I hate reactional undertakings.
Lol
@Zambiancitizen
1. I am not politically affiliated. So I am neither UPND nor PF
2. I am bemba and most people consider PF a bemba/eastener partyso am not sure what you mean by “tribal lines”. But your statement makes it clear who thinks along tribal lines
3. I dont read watchdog, so……????
4. Why are you always quick to defend PF and label anyone that criticises a UPND tribalist? Doesnt that seem shallow to you?
5. The level of corruption and suffering in the country give the umpression that either no one is in charge or a corrupt incompetent group is in charge
6. I love my country. I have dual citizenship(xambian and US). But my home is Zambia. So i speak out of love and patriotism for my country. I am pained by the damage Mr. Lungu has caused.
I wonder what your motivation…
Jean Kapata busy stealing Mukula trees and giving away forest reserves destroying our natural resources…..after the so called cabinet meeting all those moron ministers including the clueless President are going straight to steal…uselessness Government….JUST HOW DOES A NORMAL HUMAN BEING EVEN THINK OF MINING IN THE LOWER ZAMBEZI…HOW?…..Anyway Lungu said he had no vision but let his visionless leadership end in 2021
@journeyman they is a person with multiple accounts who is under the pf propaganda team he/she is the one who usually post these nonsensical comments, notice those comments have the same tone
@Journeyman: I will just respond to your fifth point. The others are typical of you opposition types, watchdog is a narrative meaning you are poorly informed about what is on the ground-you don’t have to read it. The poverty you talk about seems only you people see it, equally the corruption. If poverty is so prevalent, why are bars full everyday?? Poor people can’t afford to drink daily?? To even say cabinet sits once a year is just being plain dumb!! How is the country running?? Quick diagnosis-what is the inflation rate or exchange rate?? Global economy (of which Zambia is part of) is sluggish, to blame everything on ECL and PF is being a Zambian Id!ot.
Zambian Id!ot-a person who can’t think on his own, usually believes everything spewed by social media fake news. A typical opposition zombie who blindly follows evething the strategyless leaders say, mainly from the tonga, lozi, North Western tribes with moderates from other tribes and mostly educated.
@zambiancitizen…wow….
for you to argue that there is no poverty people are in bars????? Does that sound logical to you? If it does, then am really, really worried.
And whats with the name calling? You cant argue your point logically so you resort to name calling. smh.
And why are you fixated on the issue of cabinet my friend. Its not the point of my post.
My point is simply that your EL has failed to run the country and they are rotten to the core with corruption. If you need a reminder, i will list it for you shortly.
Ati I dont know whats on the ground. that is just hilarious. While you and your fellow PF are living in luxury at the expense of your fellow countrymen, some of us see the people dying in hospitals because of corruption at ministry of health. drugs disappear…
@zambiancitizen why do your feathers get so riled up when people call out corruption that is clear as day? Is it because you are a beneficiary? Because you have been given contracts for being a cadre? And you pretend that its all just accusations and there is no evidence. Perhaps you would humour me by explaining:
1. 42 fire trucks for 42million USD when trucks actually cost 300k
2. The overpriced ambulances
4. The corruption exposed in FIC report which cited a minister who is still in cabinet
5. The damning auditor general report every year since 2016 vis a vi the Lungu era
6. The overpriced toll gates and dual carrageway?
Explain these to me then we can talk. Or are you going to hide behind your no evidence card, despite clear evidence?
@zambiancitizen, if indeed I couldnt think on my own, I wouldnt be doing the work I do. You on the other hand…..What do you do?
Does your survival depend on being a cadre? Just asking….
Concerning being able to think:
1. LPM, rebuilt Zambia’s economy, including leaving us debt free – practically. His era was charactorised by very low levels of corruption. Exchange rate was 1 to 5. GRZ was streamlined with serious accountability. After he died people automatically named hospitals and stadiums etc after him
2. ECL has sunk the country under unbearable debt. Corruption is rife. exchange rate is 1 to 13. He is himself forcing his name on buildings and malls while alive. GRZ is chaotic with no accountability. Parastals are full of cadres.
Now, in your books ECL = Great…
…in your books LPM = bad.
By logical analysis I wonder who it is that cant think. The majority of Zambians will pick LPM over ECL every day of the week. The international community will pick LPM over ECL every second of every minute. But for you…..its…..ECL. I dont know what to conclude about you.
You have one guy, a brilliant lawyer, with a successful law firm and an impeccable track record and integrity.
Then you have another guy. below average lawyer, failed lawyer, terrible track record, no integrity. Stole from A WIDOW! Debarred by LAZ.
And for you the second guy is the better man?? Iyo kwena. Its true that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil..Greed baba. Greed.
For you info. One who cant be trusted with little cant be trusted with much. And its the case…
Oh no… I hoped you were not but you are….my description in 1.11. I rest my case.
Like I said. No reasoning power. No ability to analyse facts. Just name calling and insults. Yawn. What a waste of my energy. Bye bye…
The unwisest thing I have done today was to respond to the likes of you. Go back to feeding off cadrerism and I will get back to doing what I do.
Bye bye Zambian citizen. Hopefully we never meet again, either on this blog or in this life or even the next life. bye
All you PF enthusiasts got to realize that your failed government never delivers what it says. Always dununa reverse thinking. PF is a government of reaction and not a government of action. Sadly their reaction maneuvers never amount to anything. Clever governments have what is called a contingent plan that kicks in when faced with a worse scenario case But because the brains of this government are impaired they only begin to think of building lifeboats when the ship is already sinking. How long have they been singing about bringing the kwacha exchange rate down or reducing unemployment? Where is the more money in your pockets people got promised to be delivered within 90 days by the PF. People analyze first what these politicians say and see if indeed what they say us feasible. PF acted…
Continued; PF acted like these false prophets we see today by playing on people’s desperation to come into power. However lies have short legs and has a compounding effect because you have keep lying to cover up the previous lie.
That excuse I keep seeing that this problem of load shedding began in that party’s government, or privatisation of this started in that government amounts to nothing and just simply shows how lacking of tangible solutions this government has to the problems the country faces. If PF say that they knew the electricity problem started in the previous Government then surely PF should have come up with these plans or strategies from the onset of thier regime rather than watch the problem escalate to such levels as we are experiencing today. This just show how short of ideas this government has. The plans may be good but the timing is wrong. The other problem is PF campaigned a lot on poverty reduction and results can surely attest to the fact that PF are miles away from meeting this goal so…
Contd: so what confidence will people have in this government that it will be able to do what it is planning?
Good Move n the write Direction for Energy and Financial Literacy in those acts ,The energy emergency response and security act can also be added among st the refinements in those DER and IPP and Grid operating and Transmission Acts including Power trading provisions affecting the regulatory acts
MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL REVISION OF THE INTER-GRATED ENERGY RESOURCE PLANNING SAY FOR 2030 to align procurement,deployment of resources and power into the national Grid etc
Dander heads to come up with solutions, good luck… these 1doits in PFoools can`t think more than a grade 0 including that ka useless worst president on earth, the chap is just a w@nker
That’s a long term plan. Gov should have come up with a short term plan to solve the current electricity crisis.
In 2016,Inoge Wina declared that there shall be no more load shedding in Zambia.Well in 2019, barely 3 years later,Zambians are experiencing the worst load shedding of 15 hours per day.
The problem with Zambians is the short memories they have.Today,the PF are still cheating us with the same lies over and over again.
@3 Ken Phiri, That is my thought too!! It appears the current moribund situation is here with us till it rains! These issues they have brought out here are long term,in fact should have been done years back!! What happens to today’s 15 hours loadshedding-just stories without any discussion in cabinet?? See how much money has been wasted on so called township roads which has had no meaningful impact on people’s incomes, which could have been used for electricity generation to guarantee people’s livelihoods,now threatened by power cuts.
hello there
THE RESOLUTIONS LACKS THE URGENCY IT DESERVES,IT HAS FAILED TO ADDRESS THE CURRENT SITUATION IN THE SHORT TERM.
No Human is perfect, we all have flaws so is every Government but it is so sad to see how people are attacking the PF Government when we ourselves have been crying that they should sit and do something about the issues affecting this country and when they do just that we are yet again questioning them instead of helping them implement all their plans for this country.
Electricity challenges Zambia is currently facing will soon come to an end and our economy will be stable Again..
Wasting time, universities are in place to help the government.How many meetings are going to be held? If we have no experts in our country, involve foreigners. Taba insoni.
Great point.
Experts are dead/sleeping/dosing or politians are the know it all.
How many scientists does Zambia have?
Experts in the land need to put their contribution of national interest on record for our reference.
Failed state of affairs
Talking the talk then going back to plunder, that is what has been happening in this republic of Chambia
Knowledge speaks but wisdom listens
The Govrnment has tried to improve the electricity crisis, so it’s better we give it time for us to see better results from the projects being brought up by the Govrnment .
Your hate for Pf will kill you!
Better long term solutions than none. Criticising every effort won’t take us anywhere. People talk too much but fail to offer credible solutions.
Rubbish, what are the 7th national development plans if not long term plans?
The best way to hide one’s incompetence and to cheat Zambians is to come up with new Bill after new Bill to buy time. With Kariba less than 7% to decommissioning, and break downs at ESCOM necessitating more load shedding, plus our increasing difficulty to honor our debts, our tight liquidity, let alone the lack of transparency in the manner National affairs are being felt with, the last resort is to use the force of the law to shut up the citizens! Whether you like it or not, tariffs will be adjusted at the pleasure of Boma, take it or leave it! It’s going to be painful between now and 2021! Maybe the old fire tenders will come in handy to refill our Kariba…kikiki
Time to invest in solar power as a country. The system should also allow individuals in every town, rural or urban, to set up solar fields and let them feed into the national Grid.
Setting up solar power may be expensive but once it is up and running it benefits all. Hydro power can easily compare with solar power… Let us give ourselves a five year plan and try it.
The government is working so hard to make sure that development is taken to all parts of the country, and making sure that the electricity tarrifs are reduced and that load-shedding comes to end. Climate Change has affected alot of current government developmental agenda. This topic of electricity tarrifs,load-shedding etc.. has spread like HIV/AIDS which affected most of the developing countries, and our country Zambia was not speared. Still the seating government could not be appreciated, some opposition individuals had also there own views to critisize every efforts the seating government could do in the fight aganist HIV/AIDS. As Alangizi Ba Chitukuko we are refering to the root cause(Climent Change) of electricity tarrifs, load-shedding etc which has been the government concerned…