ZESCO Chairman: I Take Full Responsibility For Load Shedding

ZESCO Board Chairman Vickson Ncube has admitted that President Hakainde Hichilema’s statements about load shedding ending in Zambia were based on incorrect information that Ncube had given him. The revelations came in an interview with Mr. Ncube featuring on Hot FM’s “Hot Seat Programme” on 10th of January 2023. The full video was uploaded to Our Generation TV’s YouTube channel.

Mr. Ncube stated in his interview with Hot FM that, had he looked at the water levels in the Kariba Dam, which recently have been low due to very little rainfall, he would have recognised that these water levels would not have been able to generate the electricity required for the power grid, and would have looked for other solutions to this energy problem.

Load shedding began on 15th December 2022, leading to twelve-hour power outages. ZESCO hopes that new measures beginning this week will reduce outage times to two six-hour periods, and Mr. Ncube said that power rationing was likely to be reduced by the middle of February if water levels increased as forecasted.

The ZESCO Chairman noted that “our hydrology is poor, our water reservoirs are also poor, no matter what we do, we have no control over the natural part”, but he did also say that ZESCO “should have anticipated” the water level problem, “so to that extent I shall take responsibility by stating that we failed the nation as ZESCO”.

Mr. Ncube agreed that he “should have been better informed […] and I should have started fining for intervening measures so that by the time the crisis comes, am ready to meet it and I wasn’t”.

When asked if he had misinformed the President, Mr. Ncube admitted that “if I had given the correct information, he wouldn’t have made the statement”.

He added that because the President does not sit on ZESCO’s board, he relies on information he is given by senior figures at ZESCO. Prior to ZESCO’s blunder, the New Dawn government had ended load-shedding less than a year after being elected.

Mr. Ncube also said that, despite the necessary load shedding and resulting power outages, ZESCO was continuing to export power to Zambia’s neighbours to recoup debts, and that load shedding was likely to end in March if new measures were implemented correctly. The new load management schedule resulting in two six-hour outages came into effect on Monday 9th January, and will continue until further notice.