There is an uproar over the six hours load shedding announced by Energy minister, Peter Kapala in Parliament, with most Zambians saying the cost of living was already too high to add power outages to the list.
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Some politicians have asked government to shift the power management to mines because those can afford to buy generators which most Zambians can not afford.
Chama South member of Parliament, Davison Mungándu said in an interview, the mines should be loadshedded instead because they enjoy tax incentives and can therefore afford generators.
He has therefore asked government to spare Zambians.
Patriotic Front acting president, Given Lubinda, says Zambians should brace for harsher times because the worst was yet to come. He said what the minister announced was just the beginning and it would get worse.
And Mr Mung’andu has challenged the UPND Government to leave poor Zambians alone and load shed the mines who are already not paying taxes and can afford generators.
Mr Mung’andu said Zambians were already not benefitting from the mining sector as they had been given tax concessions hence the need for them to be the ones to bear the cross of load shedding.
He said it was a well-known fact that the mines were using 80% of the power that was being generated by Zesco leaving Zambians with only 20% to share.
Mr Mung’andu challenged the minister of Energy to explain why he agreed to sign a bulk supply agreement of Zesco on Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) so that the power utility company can supply power directly to the mines giving Zesco permission to use CEC infrastructure to manufacture power to sell to the mines.
Mr Mung’andu said it was selfish for the UPND government to make Zambians to be paying more in order to subsidize the mines.
And mr Mungandu has also challenged the UPND government to clearly explain what has caused them to reach the decision of load shedding people when they had been boasting of ending load shedding and the country had not experienced any drought.
Meanwhile, National Democratic Congress president, Saboi Imboela, says this development shows that the UPND were liars.
She has advised the UPND to consult externally if they have failed to manage the economy.
And acting PF President Given Lubinda has said Zambians must prepare themselves for harder things to come because there is worse to come under the UPND regime than what has been so far.
Reacting to the announced six hours load shedding by the government, Mr Lubinda said Zambians have been caught with the opposite of what President Hakainde Hichilema said recently that the UPND administration has within a year managed load shedding by increasing power generation.
Mr Lubinda said it was unfortunate that the country was being government by people who say things to please themselves himself.
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