Residents against Zesa tariff hikes

THE Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA), and its partners the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC), Zimbabwe lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and the Centre for Community Development Trust (CCDZ) are opposed to recent 31 % tariff hike by ZESA which was approved by the Zimbabwe Electricity Regulatory Commission (ZERC).

ZESA has not given sufficient justification for these increases save for that the current rates are lower than the average in the region.

The tariffs that come into effect on the 1st of September 2011are a serious cause for concern to most residents and ratepayers as they are not justified and can trigger possible dissent.

ZESA has not provided a regular and quality service in as far as electricity is concerned and yet have the audacity to increase tariffs even in the face of increasing power cuts. We contend that there were no formal and thorough consultations with residents and various stakeholders and thus we reject these arbitrary increases by ZESA. Residents cannot be reasonable expected to pay for nonexistent services.

We reject the fallacy that the increases will lead to improved revenue generation which will be used to improve the delivery of power services through purchase of new equipment. In February 2011 ZESA increased tariffs which were later rejected by government. We thus implore government to reject these tariffs as there continues to be no sufficient justification for them from ZESA. Most of the residents of Harare have suffered long days and nights without electricity while the business sector has lost hours of productive time a situation which has negatively affected economic development.

The Competition and Tariffs commission in July found that ZESA`s actions constituted "restrictive practices that are a manifestation of the abuse of monopoly". The Commission compelled ZESA to use actual readings when billing customers in terms of the law. This recommendation has not been followed. We also know that ZESA has not complied with a High order in favour of the Competition and Tariffs commission compelling to credit customers who had been overcharged due to illegal bills.

In light of the above, We make the following Demands:

· The Minister of Energy and power development must compel the ZERC and ZESA to immediately reverse the tariff hikes as they are not justified. The Tariffs will hurt the economy and will further impoverish the suffering residents of Harare.

· The Ministry of Energy and Power Development and the Portfolio Committee on Energy and Power Development must conduct public enquiries into the issue of energy development and distribution in the country with a view to developing a Medium / long Term Plan on Power Development.

· ZESA must immediately deal with its chaotic billing system that has left many residents and ratepayers unjustifiable owing. ZESA must stop disconnecting residents on the basis of these bills. We understand that most of the bills are based on estimates rather than actual meter readings.

· ZESA must conduct extensive public consultations on the installation of prepaid meter reading gadgets

· We demand that ZESA releases consistent and regular schedules on load shedding. This will allow residents and the business community to effectively plan their work. ZESA must also review its load shedding schedules as some areas have suffered longer periods of load shedding than others.

If the these DEMANDs are not met within Seven days CHRA and its partners will,

· Call for a massive rates BOYCOTT from both residents and ratepayers in the corporate world.
· File an Urgent High Court Application to block ZESA from going ahead to implement the new tariffs
· Mobilise communities for peaceful protests in Harare and other cities until these demands are met.
· Mobilise communities to form 'peoples electricity caretaker commissions' which will operate at ward levels to monitor ZESA actions, disconnections and demand action in local ZESA offices.