Energy and Power Development Minister Fortune Chasi has called on Zimbabweans to pay up their ZESA bills or risk staying in darkness.
Chasi made the call speaking on a Twitter message on Sunday in which he started by apologising to the public for the misinformation on the Eskom debt payment,
Chasi said the payment of the Eskom debt rests with RBZ and the Ministry of Finance and that he was sorry for giving inconclusive information on the matter,
“I prefer the public to get correct information. We cannot operate the sector on falsehoods for sure. I am really sorry that I am being termed dishonest.”
Eskom through its group CEO Phakamani Hadebe, had indicated it had not received any payment from the government of Zimbabwe as of Friday last week and the payment has since been confirmed as of Tuesday.
There was a twist of responses when Chasi reiterated that businesses and people needed also to settle their debt with ZESA in order for the power utility to come out of its problems.
This seemed to have not gotten well with MDC Secretary-General and Kuwadzana Member of Parliament, Charlton Hwende who told Chasi to start asking those in cabinet to pay their ZESA bills first.
“You sit in cabinet with most of the people who have huge ZESA bills from their failed farming activities, start with those,” chided Hwende.
Minister Chasi in response pointed to an industry that owes ZESA about ZW$350 million and the public who also owe around the same figure, ZW$350million including Members of Parliament which Mr Hwende was part of.
The energy Minister reiterated the importance of working together in settling the bills owed to ZESA and threatened saying, “tinonyura tese”(we will all sink), if people continue grandstanding on the issue.
There have been reports in the past that many politicians and Ministers owed ZESA a lot of money through electricity bills. Zimbabwe is facing a crisis on power shortages caused by debt the power utility has with regional power suppliers like Eskom coupled with deteriorating water levels at its major hydro-electrical station at the Kariba Dam. Other solutions are needed to curb this power crisis including embracing other energy solutions like solar.