Week 49
A weekly selection from Zimbabwean newspapers
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday said households may be disconnected from the national electricity grid in response to the crippling energy crisis. Last week, the Zambezi River Authority, which manages the dam, wrote to the Zimbabwe Power Company saying Kariba South should shut down until at least January because it had run out of water to generate electricity. Kariba produces over 70% of the country’s electricity.
Zimbabwe has finished its allocated water for power generation at the 1 050 megawatts (MW) hydroelectric power plant in Kariba South. It means that three-quarters of the country’s power generation capacity is gone. According to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority, the dam is 3.7% full. The country now only has the Hwange Power Station, which produces an average of 350MW.
The rains that have been pounding Bulawayo in recent weeks have worsened the state of roads in the city.
Bulawayo received heavy rains last week, which resulted in most roads developing potholes which rendered them impassable.
This comes amid low electricity generation at Kariba South hydroelectric power station, load-shedding and people living in darkness. Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa in his latest opinion piece in the state media has left Zimbabweans wondering if his government has the plan to solve the electricity shortage in the country. He wrote that his administration has a blueprint which targets households to run on solar, so they can be removed from the national grid.
LAST week started on a terrible note for Zimbabwe, with news that its power crisis was about to get a lot worse as its Kariba South Power Station, which produces over 70% of the country’s power, has to shut down because it has run out of water to generate electricity. As a result, the country is to lose the 1 050 megawatts (MW) produced by Kariba South, leaving the breakdown prone Hwange: capacity — 900MW, output — 350MW as the sole recourse.
US Embassy in Zimbabwe Charge D’Affaires Elaine French says there is no room for political violence in a democratic Zimbabwe, with the country set to hold general elections next year. She made the remarks during a tour of the Center for Innovation and Technology (CITE) on Tuesday to familiarize herself with the work the organization does.
Chiefs will begin holding community consultative meetings on Gukurahundi early next year, though they, too, have more questions than answers about how the process will unfold, according to Chief Mtshane Khumalo, Deputy President of the National Chief’s Council. The chiefs, who are considered cultural custodians, were assigned by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to lead the community consultative and outreach meetings, which were formally launched in October as an attempt to resolve the emotive Gukurahundi genocide issue.
ZIMBABWE could be headed for darker days as Energy and Power Development minister Zhemu Soda yesterday revealed that there was no immediate funding to ease power outages. Zhemu revealed this after hopes to import more power from Zambia were dampened with the neighbouring country introducing a six-hour daily load-shedding regime starting on December 15.
CCC legislators have defied their leader Mr Nelson Chamisa after their caucus meeting held on Tuesday resolved to take up the US$40 000 housing loan scheme offered to MPs by Government, saying it is part of various loan schemes extended to them by the State.
