President Edgar Chagwa Lungu (right) listens as ZESCO Managing Director Victor Mundende explains how Hydro Power is generated during the commissioning of 120MW Itezhi Tezhi Hydro Power Station in Itezhi Tezhi Central Province on Friday,March 4, 2016. PICTURE BY SALIM HENRY/STATE HOUSE ©2016.Trade and Economic Consultant Trevor Simumba has advised President Edgar Lungu to immediately fire Energy Minister Mathew Nkhuwa and ZESCO Managing Director Victor Mundende for incompetence.Mr Simumba said the manner in which the power crisis has been handled shows that the two are highly incompetent.
He said maintaining Mr Nkhuwa as Minister of Energy and Mr Mundende at ZESCO risks plunging the country into total darkness.
“Your Excellency, it is clear we are in crisis but I am sure you will agree with me that the way your Minister of Energy and ZESCO management have handled this load shedding is extremely incompetent,” Mr Simumba said.
“As President fire these people immediately,” he added.
Mr Simumba said President Lungu must appoint competent people to run the Ministry and ZESCO.
“The level of load shedding is getting to extreme levels. The decline in national output is now affecting the kwacha increasing costs of everything including debt servicing which already accounts for 40% of budget,” he said.
“You are risking total collapse of the economy. Take action now Sir.”
Meanwhile, despite the importation of 300 megawatts of power on Friday, most areas in Lusaka are still experiencing more than 20 hours of load shedding.
Some residents of Lusaka’s Chilenhe and Emmasdale areas say they have not seen any reduction of load shedding since the importation of power from South Africa.
Chanda Bwalya, a housewife in Emmasdale said on Friday, power went at about 05 Hours and was only restored at 24 hours.
On Friday, Minister of Energy Mathew Nkhuwa disclosed that the importation of 300 Megawatts power from South Africa’s ESKOM at a total cost of 27 Million dollars.
Mr. NKhuwa says the 300 Megawatts received will only reduce power load shedding by two hours.
Zambia is currently experiencing a power deficit of over 800 MW with load shedding of over 15 hours.
Iwe Simumba, we should actually start with firing bawiso. What doyou know about power generation??? Lyonse mwaishibafye ukulemba ifya bupuba. Atase!!!
How can Lungu fire wako ni wako….Lungu will just send Nkhuwa into a diplomatic mission wasting more tax payers money…Just like he cant fire Kaizer Zulu….remember how Lungu fooled Zambians by firing Zindaba Soko…am sure Zindaba Soko is still on Govt Payroll..one of the 4000 ghost workers
I agree with minimizing negative comments, on things we don’t understand. I don’t understand electricity, I thought if it rains in night then following day all transformers will be over charged?
However, there is nothing which looks like electricity about Minister Nkuwa. Rev. Sumaili can perform better than Nkuwa, she more charged!!!
“HH drained the Zambezi River of water! We must fire him!” Simumba and UPND INCOMPOS Group 4s.
Let’s develop this thing Mr. President! Under Five Card is UNELECTABLE and still a BOY.
How can the incompetent President fire people who are overseeing PF’s cash cow ZESCO
I would normally be against dismissing professionals like that. Is Simumba privy to the advice Zesco management has rendered to govt on the business of generating, transmitting and distributing power? It’s not fair to attack professionals like that.
Yes also fire Kamanga and we shall rid Zambia of three of the six people who cause unhappiness in Zambia
dirty words, these people need no mercy… Just fire them
Firing Nkhuwa and Mundende is not the answer because ZESCO saga has many faces.
Who would want to inherit ZESCO MALAISE..?
Honestly the caliber of people asking for their friends to be fired, in case you don’t know, Victor is a graduate of the university of Zambia school of Engineering. As COO of ZESCO before his appointment as MD, employees as ZESCO credited him as the force that actually ran the organization. Please post your credentials at the end of your comments so people can assess your substance to critique. Too many armchair economist critics in Zambia
Nkhuwa does not supervise Zesco, he is only a government mouthpiece on matters energy. The frustrations should be targeted at the Management and Board of IDC. These are the supervisors of Zesco.
You are absolutely right. If the Prez was serious about the affairs of the country , he would have relieved the Energy Minister and the MD ZESCO a long time ago.
It’s speaks volumes of the kind of leadership we have. Take a look at his political advisor and you will get a sense of the trouble we are in as a country.
ZESCO recently declared huge losses in Billions of Kwacha for a product they did not produce nor sale! Basically this means that even if ZESCO was to charge K10,000 per Unit of electricity , they will never make profit , because they do not have electricity to sale!
If that’s the situation , the ZESCO should be downsizing it’s workforce. Its normal business practise to lay off people if a company is unable to operate as a going concern. ZESCO like the country is…
KEEP CADRES AWAY FROM OUR STRATEGIC INSTITUTIONS, HYDRO ELECTRICITY IS OUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. IF WE DON’T GET IT, WE MIGHT AS WELL CLOSE SHOP.
Firing these two will not solve the problem. The actual problem is zesco has
Been milked to a level where it has no legs to stand on its feet.The best solution
Is to sell zesco and hold some shares in
It.
You dunderheads don’t get it, how can ZESCO perform when cost is about 12c/kwh and they sell for less than 6c/kwh average??? If you sell it, the new owners will lay of 60% of Zambians and externalise all the money and pay GRZ taxes only. Is that a good thing??
Zambian citizen — If firing 60% of employees will result in better company so be it.. people go into business to make money and have a duty to pay taxes. if they paying a fair share of TAX then nothing wring
@Betters-and ZESCO will make money if they sell above cost, no??? So for you, externalising $2bn, paying $120m tax and giving Zambians 2 year contracts with gratuity, bringing an expat getting five times more than you but you are more qualified is better??
Uyu kolwe Simumba wa chongo!! Why don’t you advise upnd on how to democratise and how to hold a convention??
This government exports power to other countries at the expense of their own people and they expect them to understand? No ways! Your own children in your home are starving but you are giving food to other children? Does that make sense really?………I guess the cost of power is 4 times more when exported than when consumed locally? And the profit of course ends up in their pockets
Simumba has failed or just avoided to point at root causer; the minister and the ZESCO MD are only symptoms. It is one sitting on top of the the pyramid.
Anyone who has done business or well versed with running firms knows thst profit making or viability of any company insn’t just about product price or tarrif rates but also on cost control n further investments. Cost cutting measures alone can bring profits in Zesco, but they have employed Cadres doing nothing but they are on Zesco pay roll. Uncontrollable cost can sunk the company because at some point the consumer also will fail to manage the high tarrifs, mind u consumers also are in business, so if the cost of electricity becomes to high on their statement of income, it dilutes the profits , hence the collupse of the country’s economy
If it is OK for calls to recruit an expatriate coach for a useless game like football, why not call for a competent non-political party affiliate expatriate to run ZESCO?
Lungu must fire those two and immediately fire himself! Zambians now don’t even know incompetence, blinded by stinking tribal bigotry. That country is doomed!
And after they are fire who do we appoint? It has become a habbit that whenever something doesnt go the way people want, there is always someone to blame that should lose their job. The norm should be understand the situation, look for a solution that can work, then impliment it. Manje it becomes a debate whether that person should keep their seat or not. Let us support these people and help them make the right decisions so we can develop and go further as a Nation.
Fish starts rotting from the head!
Let’s not go for the small fish but the biggest fish that is not performing!
Forget it Simumba. No one gets fired in PF! Telling ba mwine to fire anyone is a waste of time. Let our people enjoy hardships!
Trevo.r chisushi fye cheka cheka. uselsss akainde’s stooge
We should fire the one who has caused poor rainfall
This issue of load-shedding is being caused by Climate Change, and government has put up a long time strategic plan which will end this problem of electricity power deficity in the country, therefore it should not be over politicised for solution is yet to be sorted out. Fellow Zambians let us put it in mind that the country is still developing and that our government is working day and night improve and setting up other sources of electricity generation and considering that we have more industries, mines which are the major consumer of power and also domestic use..
They have been fired already , Trevor is correct ,The Zesco Managing or MD ,The Director of Finance or FD and the Director Strategy have been fired for not performing Zesco Zesco is Load-shedding the Nation as opposed to Powering the Nation Its a matter of time and delivery of the announcement unless they pleaded
They were advised on crisis on hydro potential generation at the Kariba and Kafue Basin they did not listen They were presenting optimistic load forecasts and assuring the nation that all was well and never put in place any measures either to pay /clear for eskom edm arrears and procure capacity of power 900 MW sufficient to meet these load-shedding
They never…
They never advised ,and misled , the minister and the board sufficiently well enough to make alternative arranges to mitigate the power shortages despite early warning signs and kept on assuring that there will be no loadhshedding even when readings and g water levels readings at various points of the Zambezi river and kafue river including the Kafue and Kariba dams especially that this Dam had the crack ,like the new Kafue lower Dam being build which alo cracked ,that the national was not informed of, and was up for maintenance
The decision was also made to replace, Like the new REA CEO, Zesco also its time we got serious and retired the 3 they have saved and must be fired for…
The biggest problem we have in Zambia is not professional incapacitation but political interference on the professionals. Professionals are looking incompetent because of bullying by politicians. Zambia will only develop if politicians start respecting professional advise. Politicians should stop imposing their way in issues they do not understand. Iam waiting for a time when politicians for once will put the interest of this country first. God bless Zambia.
sure Mr Simumba,are you being honest or you just want to be heard?mmmmmm and what is your solution to this problem,tel the nation do not cry foul without coming out with solution.mmmm allaaaa iweee