Maravi

Sata threatens demos over power outages

Sata threatens demos over power outages
By Chibaula Silwamba, Kelvin Tembo, Agness Changala & Joan Chi
Monday March 03, 2008 [03:00]

SATA is being a political lumpen by calling for mass demonstrations over power shortages, defence minister George Mpombo said yesterday. And energy permanent secretary Peter Mumba has pleaded with Zambians to be more patient with the government and Zesco during this period of power shortages.

Mpombo was commenting on Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata, who on Saturday threatened to organise countrywide demonstrations if the government did not end electricity problems within the next 30 days.

Addressing a rally in Lusaka’s Linda compound to thank Kanyama electorate for voting for PF’s Colonel Gerry Chanda as member of parliament in the February 21 by-election, Sata gave President Levy Mwanawasa and his government a 30-day ultimatum to solve the power problems.

“I am giving Mwanawasa an ultimatum up to the end of March; if the problem of electricity does not end, we are going on countrywide demonstrations. If he does not stop the problems of electricity, all Zambians, wherever you are, throughout the country, you have to say ‘we are annoyed’. All of you should prepare yourselves for demonstrations,” Sata said. “You should not carry machetes or a stone or an axe or knobkerrie, we will walk without any weapon to demonstrate and tell Mwanawasa that the power blackouts have angered us.”

Sata demanded that President Mwanawasa should immediately fire Zesco managing director Rhodnie Sisala as part of the measures to rectify electricity problems in the country.

“Zesco does not switch off electricity at state House, so Mwanawasa doesn’t know how it feels to sleep in the dark. The intelligence personnel who are here know how it feels because they are also affected by load shedding. Even you the intelligence personnel, I want to fight for your interests. Load shedding does not choose that this one belongs to the MMD or UPND, we will not switch off,” Sata said. “There is no way that President Mwanawasa and George Mpombo should be the only ones enjoying while the rest are suffering. This is not the country for them alone. Did God create this country for Mwanawasa, Mpombo and Ronnie Shikapwasha?”
But Mpombo, who once served as energy minister, yesterday said Sata’s statement exposed his ignorance.

“He is demonstrating an incredible paucity of common knowledge. As we are talking, there is no responsible leader who would utter such statements bordering on ignorance. It is an unacceptable form of ignorance,” Mpombo said. “The people Sata is claiming that he is going to incite to demonstrate, they are more knowledgeable than himself. They will not succumb to his lumpen tactics. Leaders must not behave like political lumpens. It’s unbelievable that leaders can behave like political lumpens who will just wake up and start talking things anyhow. A leader must have knowledge about important issues.”
Mpombo said the current power problems had nothing to do with Sisala.
“All what we need to do is to invest more into generation capacity. We should attract more investors into the small hydro power plants in North-Western, Luapula and Northern provinces,” said Mpombo.
And chief government spokesperson Mike Mulongoti said demonstrations would not rectify the power problems.

“If people mean well, they should say ‘these are our suggestions, this is how we should resolve this problem’. Demonstrations alone will not bring electricity,” he said. “Hence Mr Sata’s behaviour is not expected of a leader. We would want leadership that provides alternatives that can create value for the people.”
Mulongoti said the government would not stop peaceful demonstration.
“If they are going to be a danger to others, of course the law will take its course,” said Mulongoti. “But if you are talking about people expressing themselves in a non-violent manner as a way of showing that they are unhappy, that is provided for in the Constitution.”

And Peter Mumba has said the government had the money to assist Zesco Limited in its power rehabilitation project in order to accelerate the works and minimise the impact of power shortages on the Zambian economy.

During a visit to the Kafue Gorge and Kariba North Bank power stations on Saturday, Mumba said the government would have done everything possible earlier to invest in electricity generation had it known that demand for power would reach the current levels.
“I have seen what is going on here and I must say I am impressed with the works currently going on to rehabilitate and up-rate the machines at Kafue Gorge and Kariba North Bank power stations. When I hear people say that this government has failed, I wonder which government they are talking about,” Mumba said. “This power problem is in the whole Southern African region and it is not just here in Zambia. So Zambians should try and be more patient with government and Zesco as the machines are being up-rated in an effort to enhance their generation capacity in order to meet the current high demand for power in the country.”
Mumba said the government was very concerned with the current state of the energy sector.

“If we don’t do anything now in terms of investments in generation of electricity, this situation can lead to total collapse of the economy because a number of sectors such as mining and manufacturing depend on energy for production,” Mumba said. “Government is concerned about the load shedding going on and that is the reason why we want to see how we can assist Zesco Limited so that the power shortages can be minimised.”
Mumba said the government was readily available to provide financial assistance to Zesco Limited in order to provide a short-term solution to the current power problems.
“I have discussed with my colleague in the Ministry of Finance, the permanent secretary in charge of the budget and economic affairs, on how we can help Zesco Limited with money so that rehabilitation and up-rating of machines is completed fast enough in order to minimise the load shedding,” Mumba said. “What we are asking Zesco Limited is to just let us know how much is needed to fast track the rehabilitation works. Government has the money somewhere and it is ready to provide financing for the enhancement of the energy sector.”

Mumba further said President Mwanawasa had shown a lot of goodwill in solving the problem of power shortages in Zambia in order to safeguard the growing economy.
“I was approached by some businessmen who said they can also come in and help the country with finances in order to invest in power generation so that the issue of power shortages can be history,” Mumba said.

And briefing Mumba before the tour of Kafue Gorge, power station manager Morris Mwale said the current power shortages were only a passing phase as Zambia would soon enhance its power generation capacity and ease electricity problems being faced around the country.

“After realising that most of the equipment had become depleted, Zesco Limited undertook a power rehabilitation project in order to avoid a collapse of the equipment,” said Mwale.

After completion of rehabilitation and up-rating of equipment, generation capacity at Kafue Gorge is expected to be raised from the current 900 mega watts to 990 mega watts while Kariba North Bank would have a total of 720 mega watts from 600 mega watts.
So far, two machines have been up-rated at Kariba North Bank from 150 mega watts to 180 mega watts, while the third machine is being worked on and expected to be ready for switching in the next one week.

The whole Southern African region is facing a critical power shortage, and countries are now grappling to invest in the energy sector.

Recent statistics compiled by the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) indicate that power demand in the SADC region has been increasing at a rate of about three per cent per annum over the last 15 years.

But there have been no corresponding investments in generation and transmission infrastructure to match the increase in the demand and as a result, generation surplus capacity has been diminishing steadily over the past few years.
The total installed capacity in countries included in SAPP is about 53,000 mega watts, but available capacity is only 45,000 mega watts due to technical limitations.
The dependable capacity is further reduced to 41,000 mega watts as the available hydro capacity varies depending on season and other constraints.

Meanwhile, Sata said by-elections were inevitable in Lusaka’s Matero and Chawama constituencies to elect new members of parliament who will replace his party’s Faustina Sinyangwe and Violet Sampa-Bredt.

“I want to work with women and men who will uplift people’s living standards,” Sata said. “We are causing by-elections in Chawama and Matero; we want new members of parliament.”
But Sinyangwe advised Sata to only think of elections in Matero when she was no longer there.
“I am still member of parliament so we can’t talk about elections,” she said.
Sinyangwe said Sata should not say she had failed to work because she had worked very well in her constituency.

Meanwhile, Sata expressed concern at the increase of prices of essential goods and services.
“Those who are still in MMD, what are you benefiting from MMD because when you go to hospitals there are no drugs for MMD members? The way they have increased prices of mealie-meal to K45, 000, there is no mealie-meal costing K2,000 for MMD members. When you board a bus from here to town, the potholes on the road affect everyone whether you belong to MMD or an opposition political party. If you carry a pregnant woman, even if she is MMD, can potholes know that this is an MMD member? So what are the benefits of supporting the MMD?” Sata asked.

He said President Mwanawasa could not care about the increase of mealie-meal and other essential commodities because he does not use his money to buy such things.
And Sata claimed that the government had banned PF youths from participating in this year’s Youth Day commemoration activities.

“Therefore, I am now telling him President Mwanawasa that we will not even attend Women’s Day celebrations,” Sata said.

Sata thanked the people of Kanyama Constituency for voting for Col Chanda.
“Today work has started for Chanda. For Chanda, you should be coming here to see the problems people are facing so that you represent them well,” said Sata.
And Col Chanda said he had a master plan to solve the problems in Kanyama Constituency.

“I am inviting [MMD losing candidate Mwalimu Simfukwe to work with me. I have no grudge against Simfukwe. When we come together, we can develop this constituency,” said Col Chanda.

Labels: ENERGY, GEORGE MPOMBO, SATA

posted by MrK @ 4:10 AM