Zesa now a 'shame'

LAST week, the power generation subsidiary of Zesa Holdings, the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company published its latest load-shedding programme which will see some areas and suburbs going for 18 hours without electricity. In fact, according to the timetable, power in many areas and suburbs will be switched off from as early as 4am and only restored at 10pm.

Even between 10pm and 4am, Zesa warned that it will not be a guarantee as "the level and duration of load-shedding may go beyond the advertised schedules."

In fact, a closer look at the schedule shows a worrying trend which connotes that on some days there will be no power at all.

It is by nature that most people will be asleep between 10pm and 4am and who would wait or even wake up during those odd hours simply to use the power.

Most industries too will be closed during this time and one wonders what Zesa is trying to tell the nation by giving this timetable which says electricity in most cases will be available at times when it will be of no use to the majority.

The latest timetable, coming at a time when the normal trend would have resulted in improved supply after the increased demand of winter has ended, is worrying and confusing.

What does this say about Zesa or rather its managers and engineers who wake up every morning feeling proud to be going to work?

Is this what they have to show as a contribution to the economy and general lives of people?

Power generation and supply is very important in any country.

It is the catalyst for industrial growth and its availability also mirrors the level of development a country has gone through.

What is clear now is Zesa is becoming a shame and a liability to the country. It is showing all the signs of a company whose days and usefulness are way past us.

As each day passes, this former giant is slowly fading and unfortunately is also going down with the hopes of a nation.

It is worrying that the problems surrounding power generation from Zesa come at a time when the company has implemented the cash power project.

The company has installed cash power at many households and companies across the country meaning that customers now buy electricity in advance.

Through this programme Zesa get to use consumers' money well before supplying the commodity.

Very few companies in Zimbabwe have such a wonderful privilege.

One of the biggest problems local companies have been facing is that of late payments for goods supplied.

Some are paid after a month or more but Zesa probably and mobile telephone providers are among a few who are enjoying this rare facility of customers paying first.

However, even after collecting people's money, all what the company shows as payback is more load shedding.

In any normal situation management at this company must start asking themselves why they would expect people to stick to an entity which is failing to provide a service that has already been paid for.

I think the brains watching over the trends happening in the energy sector and if they have vision must be thinking about what the future holds.

A clear message on the ground is that people and industry are getting fed up with Zesa.

Of course on the surface, Zesa still enjoys the monopoly in power generation and supply but the situation is slowly changing each day.

Companies and those individuals who can afford are now relying on generators to provide power.

Some companies are now literally run on generators and in spite of the cost of fuel, it is a risk they are prepared to take just to keep their machines running.

There are products which do not require any power interruption during their manufacturing and industrialists fearing that Zesa can bring losses, are sacrificing on the high cost of buying generators.

At household level, those who cannot afford generators have bought gas stoves and thanks to Zesa, today a shortage of gas is now a big worry among many people.

Zimbabweans are even forced to cross borders to buy the gas, thanks to the inadequacy at Zesa.

Some people are now using paraffin stoves and solar panels for lighting.

Today vendors are awash with solar products from the panels to the bulbs and as Zesa staff walk around these streets and see this they must know that they are the source of all the problems.

More worryingly the majority who are poor have resorted to the use of firewood. This has resulted in the sprouting of wood vendors who are destroying trees in order to sell the firewood.

Environmentalists know that this is slowly resulting in deforestation and in the public eye Zesa is the company which must pay the fines because its poor service is pushing people into this serious crime.

The country has also been trying to lure investors to come in and most of the targeted projects are high energy users.

How do we convince investors to come in at a time when Zesa seems in trouble?

Power is among the top priorities investors consider especially when they intend to venture into the manufacturing sector.

The country, because of drought is pushing and promoting irrigation. In fact, the Government has acquired a lot of irrigation equipment from Brazil which is meant to improve food security. This is noble but history shows that most irrigation schemes went down because of lack of power to pump water to irrigate the crops.

There are a lot of other programmes most sectors are trying to implement as part of the country's economic blue-print Zim Asset. Platinum companies are keen to build refineries and meet Government's wish of pushing for beneficiation of minerals. Such big projects require huge amounts of power.

Companies like Archer in Bulawayo want to improve production, they want to employ more people but how will they keep their machines running if Zesa is not providing enough power?

The country is pushing for the use of Information Communication Technologies even at schools but how can such programmes be implemented when there is inadequate power.

That is why officials at Zesa must sit down and mark themselves and see if they have scored enough to support Government programmes such as Zim Asset. Right now, however, their mark is far-far below average.
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