PLEASE ZESCO, LET 5 HOURS BE 5 HOURS!

Scoop Reflections

MANY sectors, including healthcare, education, finance, and retail, rely heavily on electricity to operate efficiently. Hospitals need power for life-saving equipment, schools use electricity for teaching tools, and businesses depend on it for daily operations.

Even the digital economy thrives on electricity. Data centres, telecommunications, and internet services require a stable power supply, facilitating communication, information exchange, and e-commerce.

Small tuntembas also need power for day-to-day operations. Hair salons, restaurants, and metal fabrication units cannot exist without power and it is the phenomenon that has battered everyone in Zambia, paralysing both large and small industries, some of which have been made to close.

Load shedding has hit households as well as familiars cannot buy their perishables in bulk owing to constant interruption in power supply and therefore, to hear that Zesco is improving power supply to at least five hours a day, is music to the ear of a troubled Zambian.

 While this is still far from the desired stable power supply, it is a necessary evil as it will, to a smaller margin, mitigate against effects of prolonged hours of load shedding we have been subjected to.

However, the problem is not whether this is achievable or not. The problem is how prepared Zesco is to ensure that they do not only honour this announcement, but also stick to the schedules they give their customers.

Many are the times that Zesco has promised one thing to its clientele and does the exact opposite and this is why we feel living up to what is expected of them from the Zambians would be important at this time. Zambians are in dire need of electricity and badly so. As a result, promises made to that effect must be fulfilled and honoured.

This is because industries rely on electricity to power machinery and equipment and are already grappling with reduced output, increased operational costs, and this has ultimately hindered economic growth.

Essential services such as healthcare, education, and public safety have suffered without electricity. Hospitals are unable to operate critical equipment, schools can’t provide a conducive learning environment, and emergency services have been compromised.

Please, Zesco, we are not asking for the head of John the Baptist on the platter because we know we are living in perilous times punctuated by climate change where power generation has dwindled to alarming levels.

All we are asking for is for you to ensure that you are talking about the five hours that we all know and not the prophetic one where you will end up giving us more excuses. Please, twapapata!