Africa-Press – Zambia. FDD leader Edith Nawakwi alleges that President Hakainde Hichilema gave express permission to Zimbabwe to draw from Zambia’s allocation of water by the Zambezi River Authority equivalent to 300 megawatts.
But energy minister Peter Kapala said he was not aware of such a development. The Zambezi River Authority last year allocated a total of 22.5 million cubic litres of water each to Zimbabwe and Zambia for the year for electricity generation at their respective power stations.
But Nawakwi said she had information that after Zimbabwe had outrun its allocation, President Hichilema intervened by allowing the Southern neighbouring state draw from Zambia’s allocation.
“No one hates them but they are being exposed by themselves. They are exposing themselves. So he should declare a force majeure and apologise for telling us lies that its [former president Edgar] Lungu who rundown the dam because he is the one who gave away water and contracts to the neighbouring countries,” she said. “And I am getting upset with you people. You have [President Hichilema’s spokesperson Anthony] Bwalya just opening his mouth, you leave him without answering. You should take him to task. Send him this and tell him Edith Nawakwi says your President is a liar. Call him and tell him your President gave [Zimbabwe President Emmerson] Mnangagwa an allocation of water equivalent to 300 megawatts of water. There is a contract in April 2022 signed by the Zesco managing director [Victor Mapani]. You see the challenge which they have.”
Nawakwi said she felt President Hichilema has been making decisions without consulting. “When they hear 1,000 megawatts excess, they say ‘ah petty cash yawoneka apa (we’ve got petty cash here). That is the petty cash which has been increasing this managing director’s conditions of service. From the same exports.
Baletwipusha epo twaba tuli balofwa (They should be asking us. We are jobless). You just make a phone call and ask: ‘what does it mean to have 1,000 megawatts? Is it already generated and sitting in a bulb?
No, it is sitting in coal and sitting in the water. So if you give your friend everything, what are you going to give your child?” Nawakwi said. “This group has failed and I warned Zambians that this one does not
even have a toolbox. I told him, he said ‘you are very cheeky.’ It is very clear that Hakainde has no clue on how to manage this economy, restore growth and sanity. He is clueless. I get baffled at how fast we Zambians forget [that] in 2016 during the presidential debate at Mulunguishi [International] Conference Centre beamed to the whole world, Hakainde Hichiilema said ‘when you want to fix a car, take it to the mechanic’ and because this economy is broken, ‘give it to me, I am an economist’.
My response was you can take a car to the garage and find that the mechanic has no spare parts. That was a direct challenge to Hakainde Hichilema.” Nawakwi said President Hichilema was not being truthful on the several issues.
“Today I saw a headline that PF finished water in Kariba Dam. We are not suffering from amnesia as Zambians. At the time Lungu was leaving there was a surplus of 1,000 megawatts plus. It was the plan of the
previous government to manipulate and trade the surplus to cover the debt, conscious of the national needs. Hakainde came in with his ‘we are better managers’ he fires everybody at Zesco who understands energy,” she argued.
“You can say what you want, Edgar Lungu fixed and upgraded mini hydro power stations. The one who finished water from Kariba dam is Hakainde in his attempt to endear himself to the Zimbabwean government. He personally authorised giving, not selling, of water to Zimbabwe equivalent to 300 megawatts. He didn’t know that that water is what constitutes into electricity. When his friend told him water has finished he said ‘Yakamana maanzi kuno’ (we have exhausted the water here)…he said ‘give them water. I mean it is annoying to have a president who gets a phone call, who says
‘we have run out of our water allocation and he says ‘give them water, we have excess’. This is 2022. Lungu was long gone. He was
harassing him. Now he should tell us who authorised him to give away water for free. 300 megawatts equivalent of water to Zimbabwe in April 2022?.” Nawakwi said Zambia had done a lot for the peace of southern Africa and that it was now time to work for its development.
“It is normal in the Southern African Power Pool but also remind him that in future the water in Kariba is not like a bull on his farm. He should not do it again, giving away our water. Is he is giving a bull from
his farm to his friend? That is our asset. It is a birthright for the people of Zambia. May I remind him through you that Zambia has paid enough in the liberation movement. We did not charge anything to our friends. We didn’t even demand anything from our friends that we want scholarships from South Africa. We paid with our blood. The people
were being bombed in Chikumbi, in Makeni. People were being maimed door to door in Lusaka. We have invested enough in the peace of the region. Now it is time to invest in our development ,” said Nawakwi.
When contacted for comment on the allegation, Kapala who laughed off the allegation said, “Ah, no. If it came from a government official I would have responded but Ms Nawakwi…where did she get such information?”
“Okay what you do is send it to the ministry. Write to the ministry. We will respond to that. On the outset, that is something I am not aware of. I am the Minister of Energy I would have known about it but I don’t think it ever happened,” he said.
Further asked to tabulate the export contracts that the ministry had reduced following his statement that the government had cut down on exports of power, Kapala said, “Yes if you write, we should have a press conference very soon. Maybe Monday where we will cover all that. So just be a little bit patient,” said Kapala.
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