By Farai D Hove| The Energy Minister, Joram Gumbo says the government has suddenly licensed over 34 companies to compete with the ZANU PF controlled national power utility, ZESA.
Gumbo said this as he confirmed rumours that Zimbabwe will soon be totally switched off power supplies.
Minister Gumbo said the government has since moved to look out for other alternative sources of electricity for the nation.
Gumbo revealed that the simple pivot of the current crisis is shortage of foreign currency.
How the the zanu PF regime has refused to simply adopt the South African Rand as a transaction currency has remained a puzzle among many economists as ZimEye reveals.
Furthermore, Zimbabwe’s electricity problems began after the ZANU PF regime at the turn of the 1990s, forcefully snatched power generation facilities from local councils and formed one huge parastatal controlled from the ZANU PF party’s shake shake building. This is how the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority was formed.
Gumbo said, “thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to assure the nation and inform them about the situation of power supply in the country.
“It is a fact and very known that the water levels at Kariba have gone very low to an extent that we might not be able to generate power by October, if we don’t manage manage our water very well, and also we are having challenges at Hwange because of coal apply, which are caused by the breakdown of machinery, which has become very very old and that has now forced us as a ministry to make sure, that we look at other means to make sure that the nation does not go dark and as a result we have licensed over 34 companies which have received licences to provide solar into the country to make provision for that.
“And while we are at that as well we have also just as a warning to say that we might be forced before all these other issues are in place we might be going for load shedding but I want to assure the nation that the times of load shedding that are being put in the newspapers might not all be that long because we are trying as much as possible that we contain the situation. Cyclone Idai was very bad for us, it was a very bad for Mozambique as well but on the contrary it also was very good for the kubota basa because the Dam is full.
“In the next few days I will be making a trip to Mozambique to make an arrangement for increased imports of power from the Cabora Bassa, because the Cabora Bassa is spilling, so I want to assure the nation that is much as possible the nation of government is cognizant of that effect of the low water levels in the Kariba dam and also the situation at Hwange as mitigatory factors, we are looking at importation of fuel from the Cabora Bassa, and also from Escom, as we have always done. We might have situations whereby we can have the usual problems of shortages of forex here and there but I want to show the nation that the situation will be under control.”
Gumbo was speaking to the state owned ZimPapers.