CHIKWANDA TOASTS STABLE FUEL SUPPLY

By Lumbiwe Mwanza

THE Government has made tremendous effort in stabilizing the supply of fuel in the country in the past two years despite various global disruptions earlier experienced on the international energy markets, energy expert Johnston Chikwanda has observed.

Dr. Chikwanda told The Scoop that achievements made in the energy sector by the Government since the United Party for National Development (UPND) came into power needed to be acknowledged especially that there were some global challenges experienced on the energy markets but the Government managed to sustain fuel supply into Zambia.

He said that from the time the UPND Government came in office, Zambia had not experienced severe fuel shortages amidst global fuel disruptions.

“It is worth noting that the Government has managed to effectively manage the supply of fuel into the country at a time when there were disruptions of fuel supply on the global market where many countries experienced severe shortages but Zambia did not experience.

“We saw a lot of instability on the global scale when Russia invaded Ukraine and we saw prices of fuel consistently going up in many African countries but Zambia had not experienced product stock out as seen in other countries,” Dr. Chikwanda said.

He noted that appreciating what the Government had achieved in two years in the energy sector should be benchmarked on what factors were prevailing both on the global energy markets and locally.

He explained that at the time the UPND was taking over the office, the Government owed fuel suppliers but currently that debt owed to fuel suppliers had been dismantled and that was commendable.

He added that completing the conversion of the TAZAMA Pipeline from transporting crude oil to transporting low Sulphur diesel was also something worth acknowledging.

He said it was such initiatives that clearly indicated that the Government remained committed towards ensuring energy security for Zambia.