Didymus Mutasa's electricity switched off

Zanu-PF secretary for administration who is also Minister of State in the President's office Didymus Mutasa reportedly had his electricity cut off after he failed to pay what he owed the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), we have learnt.

The power utility recently reported that Cabinet Ministers, MPs and senior civil servants were refusing to pay electricity bills at their private properties and using their political muscle to avoid being switched off, which was going on to have a negative impact on the performance of the organisation.

Among the self conceited Zanu-PF political heavy weights that have been deceiving themselves that they would continue consuming power without payment at the expense of the majority populace is Mutasa, who recently had his electricity cut off over an undisclosed debt.

Some of the "big chefs" reportedly owing large amounts to Zesa include Manicaland governor Christopher Mushohwe, whose outstanding bill is $145 000, and Secretary for Energy and Power Development Justin Mupamhanga ($20 000).

It is reported that most of the bigwigs had their debts accumulate at their farms and private businesses.

Reliable sources said Mutasa was 'left in the dark' at the beginning of this week and had since failed to use his authority to block the power disconnections.

"Minister Mutasa is one of the ministers who have been disconnected, among other top government officials that I will not mention. I cannot give you the details on how much he owed but his bill is quite devastating," said the source.

The source further revealed that the move to disconnect the electricity was after the presentation that was made by Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma to the parliamentarian portfolio committee on Mines and Energy, explaining the electricity situation in the country.

"In the past we have failed to cut off supplies at the residences of these individuals but after the Minister's presentation we feel we are now protected by the law and we now got the authority to recover what is owed to us," added the source.

Contacted for comment, Mutasa could neither confirm nor deny that Zesa had cut power supplies at his residence.

"I'm not going to comment on that. Who exactly told you that? I think you must go back to that person and ask him again," said Mutasa on Monday.

ZESA spokesperson Fullard Gwasira however said the power utility would not hesitate to take appropriate action on all defaulters to recover what was owed to them.

"The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has credited control mechanisms that include disconnections of electricity to all categories of defaulting customers.

"However, the power utility has always encouraged customers to pay for their consumption and to engage it for payment plans in the event that bills are too huge to be cleared at once," said Gwasira.

The power utility's exercise to disconnect the 'bigwigs' from its services would reportedly continue until compliance to settle bills was reached.

Zesa's massive disconnection exercise is meant to recover money owed and will affect all consumers regardless of status.

In the past parliamentarians have demanded to be exempted from paying Zesa utility bills saying they cannot afford the tariffs.

Presenting during a pre-budget meeting at Victoria Falls last year, Mberengwa East MP, Makhosini Hlongwane said the power utility should consider either a full or a partial exemption for legislators in light of their poor remuneration.

The power utility recently embarked on a nationwide exercise to disconnect power supplies to defaulting customers as part of efforts to recover $537 million owed to them by industry and domestic consumers, a move the power utility said would enable it to pay its creditors.