Dear Editor

Please can you help exposing the corruption at ZESA Waterfalls Depot in Harare. Since the introduction of pre paid meters, if you need a new connection at your property, consumers are now buying the cables, the meter and pay a connection fee.

There is no longer a reason for any delay because before, one would wait for 6 months to almost a year before you get electricity connected at your house because ZESA would say we dont have meters or cables.

Now we buy everything on our own and on top of that pay a connection fee that  ranges between ZWL11,000.00 to 15.000.00.

I bought my meter, USD100.00, bought the needed cable, USD30.00 and paid ZWL 11,000.00 on 15 December 2020.

Up to today, the area manage for Waterfalls is telling me stories:

First he said, we are approching Christmas nothing can be done now despite the fact that there was eight days before Christmas day. They resumed work on the 27th December, i was told we will come before New Year. They never did.

After NewYyear, I was told we are doing stock taking and they never came. After stock taking, we went into lockdown.

ZESA is under essential services and they have not closed. But the area manager said he only has people attending to faults. According to him, new connections are not a priority.

BUT, two people from the same depot are willing to do the connection upon payment of USD150.00 bribe.

They have a backlog going back to October of new connections. I am on the list of those who are not prepared to pay a bribe that is why I am not getting connected.

To get an inspector to come and inspect wiring, I had to pay the inspector USD15.00 bribe. To get what they call a pin number that enabled me to get an account number to pay connection fee and buy a meter, I had to pay USD20.00 bribe. Now they want me to pay another bribe for connection.

I don’t have the money anymore.

Please help me to expose ZESA Waterfalls Area Manager, that is the only way we can get electricity connected to our new houses. Obviously he gets a cut.

Can he explain why he has a backlog back dating October when ZESA is no longer supplying consumebles for connections. It takes less than 2 hours to connect a cable from the main pole to the meter box.

Concerned Citizen

Kind reg