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MDC tells Mnangagwa to declare a state of emergency
30 Jul 2019 at 15:59hrs | Views
MDC Secretary for energy and power development Jasmin Toffa has called upon the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa to declare the energy crisis in Zimbabwe a state of national disaster.
In a statement issued on Tuesday MDC said, "The 19-hour long load shedding schedule that citizens and businesses are subjected to, is abusive and unjustified given the fact that the sole energy supplier Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority has been spending lots of public resources on projects that are divorced from electricity
generation.
"The MDC calls upon government to declare the energy situation a national emergency. After the declaration of a state of emergency, government must convene a Stakeholders Conference on Energy production comprising government, prospective investors, independent power producers, development partners and relevant Parliamentary Portfolio Committees, amongst others, in order to establish short, medium and long term solutions to this national crisis."
MDC urged the government to admit that it has failed to run the energy sector.
"An honest admission to failure, incapacitation is not a sign of weakness but strength. No serious investor be it local or foreign can commit money in a country that does not guarantee a steady and uninterrupted supply of fuel and electricity. In light of the current fuel and energy crisis that is turning away investors, the Zanu PF mantra of Zimbabwe is Open for Business rings hollow. Electricity and fuel drive industrial production and erratic supply of the two products simply drives away investors."
The party further called for an end to monopoly in the energy regulation sector and said there is a need to open up to private players.
"The MDC believes that government, through Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA), must speed up the end of ZESA's monopoly in the distribution of electricity and bring in competition into the sector. Competition is the mother of efficiency."
In a statement issued on Tuesday MDC said, "The 19-hour long load shedding schedule that citizens and businesses are subjected to, is abusive and unjustified given the fact that the sole energy supplier Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority has been spending lots of public resources on projects that are divorced from electricity
generation.
"The MDC calls upon government to declare the energy situation a national emergency. After the declaration of a state of emergency, government must convene a Stakeholders Conference on Energy production comprising government, prospective investors, independent power producers, development partners and relevant Parliamentary Portfolio Committees, amongst others, in order to establish short, medium and long term solutions to this national crisis."
MDC urged the government to admit that it has failed to run the energy sector.
"An honest admission to failure, incapacitation is not a sign of weakness but strength. No serious investor be it local or foreign can commit money in a country that does not guarantee a steady and uninterrupted supply of fuel and electricity. In light of the current fuel and energy crisis that is turning away investors, the Zanu PF mantra of Zimbabwe is Open for Business rings hollow. Electricity and fuel drive industrial production and erratic supply of the two products simply drives away investors."
The party further called for an end to monopoly in the energy regulation sector and said there is a need to open up to private players.
"The MDC believes that government, through Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA), must speed up the end of ZESA's monopoly in the distribution of electricity and bring in competition into the sector. Competition is the mother of efficiency."
Source - Byo24News
