In a significant development impacting power supply across Zambia, ZESCO Managing Director Victor Mapani has announced that the company will commence 8-hour daily load shedding effective Monday, March 11, 2024. The decision follows a meticulous assessment of water levels in the Kafue and Zambezi basins.
Speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka, Mr. Mapani explained that the implementation of load shedding has become imperative due to the dwindling water levels, which directly affect power generation capacity. He noted that the anticipated loss for ZESCO due to load shedding would amount to approximately $35 million per month.
Mr. Mapani assured the public that ZESCO would release the first weekly load shedding schedule by Saturday to enable individuals and businesses to make necessary preparations. Load shedding will be scheduled throughout the day, affecting morning, afternoon, and evening periods.
The decision to initiate load shedding underscores the gravity of the situation regarding Zambia’s energy resources and highlights the need for sustainable energy management strategies.
Anonymous the prophet…under UPND its very easy to give prophecy because of their lies…less than 2 weeks ago they issued a statement saying forget about loadsheding this year….chipante pante Government chimbwi no plan
Guys,
Four years ago, I formulated a pragmatic road map to restore the water level in Lake Kariba. It entails recharging the water table (phreatic service) along the river bank so thar riparian streams can flow during the dry season. That document was circulated to Zambezi River Authority, ZESCO and the Minister of Power…..TO NO AVAIL
@Ken Seecharran, no one listens to reasonable, workable proposals, especially when you don’t have a small sack of dollars by your side. It is worse when you are a product or resident of the diaspora. They will even tell you “this is Zambia!” with their ignorant smirks. It’s amazing.
It always comes down to there not being the word maintenance in african languages……….
We only fix when it eventually breaks down………..
We never grew up knowing the importance of maintenance
Bad decisions again. You export maize and electricity and end up without food and electricity. HH decided to export electricity to our neighbours. The largest job creators or employers are Small-Scale-Businesses that employ 3 to 10 people. Eighty [8] hours a day without electricity is killing jobs and crippling small businesses which are also the group that pays the largest amount of taxes in any country by percentage, including in developed nations. UPND must stop exporting electricity and reserve it for Zambians to grow the economy. HH needs to drop this {I WILL FIX THINGS] and start listening to his cabinet/advisors and the people of Zambia. Zambia is not a corporation but a complex entity.
SAD! Most people in high offices expect to be given ka something to do the right thing
Ba ZESCO BATUCHITA UBUBI……………….
Ken. Would love to see that document. Is it available to the public?
There is no point of load shedding. Its usual subbortage to citizens.
If Mapani was saying such nonsense in dessert of Saudi Arabia, he could have been excuted.
@Ken, send your recommendations to State House, with name they will read it.
For Zesco or Zambezi to read, your names has to be politically correct .
Imwe ba Shipaka with your brainwashed lame thinking. What social theory are you referring to? There’s no divorce in my Ushi language nor have I heard that in Bemba vocabulary but that doesnt mean people from Northern or Luapula province dont divorce.
4 years ago you mean? The cadres were still ruling the country. why don’t you resubmit the document? We have specialists at ZESCO now.
Sounds like ‘greek’ to me but if it helps why are they ignoring great ideas?
Lies have short legs..and that’s all I can say
MULENYA MULE LAPILA
So sad that Zambia is following in the footsteps of South Africa. The meticulous assessment of water levels in the Kafue and Zambezi basins obviously has not realized that electricity is needed for the water pumps!! Soon it will be water shedding too…..like SA !!
Change of colors from green to red….in reality nothing has changed but things have changed from bad to worse
What has the change of colours got to do with climate change?
He already got his bonus so he is ready to move on to pastures new. Fire this man for lying to the Zambian people and for gross incompetence.
Not Upnd or HH to blame…. but I take it that ECL and his PF were incompetent… that’s according to HH and his Upnd. He said PF FOCUS IS ONLY 10 DEGREES. OURS WILL BE 360 DEGREES. PF ARE NOT FOLLOWING FUNDAMENTALS (whatever that means) THAT’S WHY YOU HAVE THIS LOADSHEDDING.
They hounded out the Zesco MD and brought in a kinsman by the name of Mapani (whatever that means)
So where has the focus gone
So what has happened to the fundamentals?
You had to look at tribalism, is that what you do all day ……….
Imagine and see tribalism in everything ???
Don’t let the ref to a tribe make you lose focus and stop adhering to fundamentals.
…………fundamentals is acting early..
In this case preserving water levels instead of waiting for compete depletion of the water level, which…….
Is a disaster
@Spaka do you even know what you are saying? HH in opposition CERTAINLY THE EXCUSE OF HAVING LOW WATER LEVELS CAN’T HOLD ANY MORE. WE NEED ANSWERS
So why would you use the same excuses PF used.
In a nutshell you people have no shame. You had no plans for the country other than putting your kinsman in state house.
ZESCO is better managed than the time when musicians and cadres were on payroll whileEngineers were laid off. I find it hard to believe that people with 5 senses cannot see the cause of the lack of water to generate electricity at Kariba Dam and go on to heap all the blame on the president. Only cadres can do this.
Dejavu
If we are using the same excuses as PF…………..
Can you go to kariba and urinate in the dam…………
And see if water levels will raise…….
It shocks me that upto today zesco has not been thinking of plan B away from depending on natural water in view of climate change.why can’t they go solar like CEC has done?it’s a shame….
Because lungu and PF spent all the money on hydro projects…….
Blame it all on Lungu!
In fact ZESCO had started Solar power projects in almost all provinces though I would be surprised if some of them were cancelled after change of government, the same way the cholera prevention and elimination programme was thrown through the window only for nation to experience one of the worst cholera outbreaks in our country’s history! We have only been saved by the same drought whose negative effects we are now suffering!!
Zedyatu March 8, 2024 At 1:44 pm
“.In fact ZESCO had started Solar power projects in almost all provinces though I would be surprised if some of them were cancelled after change of government….”
Those were mini project’s that would have had negligible effects……….
They are scared of massive lay offs. Pure greedness.
Do we really have to wait for water levels to drop?
Typical of Zambian…we wait until mealie meal is finished that is when you call hubby ati ubunga na bupwa
……………
As Africans……
You don’t have the equivalent of the word maintenance in your languages……
You don’t know to maintain, you only wait to fix after it stops working……
Teach kids about the importance of maintenance, maybe attitudes will change.
At the rate that we’re going, soon you’ll hear that since ZAF, Army and Prison Service are now busy with maize cultivation, ZP will now produce electricity to mitigate the deficit. Remind Garry Nkombo that Chembe river is still in the same position. The foreign debt that the PF left at $11BN has quietly moved to $18BN. We’re slowly getting to the promised land
HH and the entire UPND have lost all the formulas they had on paper for fixing problems. Garry Nkhomo, Chembe river is still on the same position. Hichilema, where is that piece of paper to reduce fuel to k5. What happened to mealie meal at k50 and fertilizer at k250.
………
The mistakes were made by PF in concentrating on hydro power production, even in the midst of load shedding due to climate change………
Who in their right mind concentrates on building hydro when we have sun light almost 7/365 and low water levels due to climate change ……??
Then Again PF were of not the right mind…………
Kikikikiki Mr Chief praise singer Spaka like lilo….i think even your own intestines and ribs are laughing at you
Anonymous
It is true………
When HH was commissioning some hydro power project, you harangued him that it was a project started by PF……..
PF spent billions of upgrading and starting new hydro projects, yet ……….
They ignored or were blind sided by corruption to realise the effects of climate change on hydro power
PF at least did something on the Kafue Gorge. They were devils that we knew not like the Upnd angels that we didn’t know… yeah now we know them.
Dejavu
You are not even embarrassed to admit PF concentrating on Hydo power when every one knew it is unreliable in climate change ???
We already know ………
, to you, as long as it is your tribesmen stealing or destroying the country……..
It is OK………???
Spaka without those hydro power stations, the loadshedding would be much harsher. So ba genius show us your focus and fundamentals.
If UPND under HH had access to the billions that PF had………
Zambia today would be the dubai of Africa……..
The first years of this GRZ have been spent fixing the extensive existisentional damage done by reckless lungu and his PF
@tribal Spaka If If If and If forever. If HH had wings he could make Zambia fly to the moon. If the devil didnt interfere with climate the impending mealie meal crisis wouldnt be there. If Deja Vu would shut up UPND would deliver miraculous development in Zambia. If Kamanga wasnt at FAZ we could have won three AFCONs. If the world was flat we at UPND could easily spot where Lungu is and eliminate him, If the year had 500 days UPND would deliver its absent election manifesto
You can condemn PF for all you want but in 10 years they added 1.700 MW to our national grid, an average of 170 Mw per year! How much have HH and his UPND added in the last 3 years that they have been power apart from shouting loudly about, touting investment pledges as if they were real and drawing graphs thereof !! What a disappointing well spoken guy!!
Zedyatu March 8, 2024 At 1:50 pm
“..You can condemn PF for all you want but in 10 years they added 1.700 MW to our national grid, an average of 170 Mw per year! How much have HH…….”
That is the problem………
They shoved zambia further into unsustainable debt on power projects that are vulnerable to climate change……..
That’s like boasting about PF building more for sanitation then UPND , when it was unregulated pitlatrines being built……..
……
If Only
For sure, where we have come from at the PF stop…….
To where we are today, it is nothing short of amazing for the general population, ofcourse……..
The PF clique of tribal supremacists are never satisfied, everyone knows why……..
and i quote…..”WITHIN ONE YEAR IN OFFICE WE’VE ENDED LOADSHEDING “……”WITHIN ONE YEAR IN OFFICE WE’VE COMPLETED DEBT RESTRUCTURING AND OUR ECONOMY IS NOW BOOMING”…..”WITHIN ONE YEAR IN OFFICE WE’VE REPOSSESED THE MINES AND NOW MINES ARE OWNED BY ZAMBIA 100 % AND VEDANTA IS GONE”….Yours truly The Almighty Supreme leader Ayatollah Hakainde Hichilema
……..
Lungu possed a mine, you failed to do anything……….
You can’t even clean the water tables because of unregulated pit latrines, and you think you can run a mine ……????
…..repossessed a mine
@Anonymous I cant believe that. Are you sure you havent picked it from some Cartoon Network government?
According to those graphs and charts, the UPND presidency has surpassed all others in Zambia as per the performance indicators. Are those findings true on the ground? What has happened to the many solar plants connected to the Zesco grid? Is it even necessary to shed the power load? How will the 24-hour economy work when 1/3 of the time will be a dark continent? Better said than done.
Considering the damage done by PF………
Where every system of governance, moral fabric of society, and every economic stream was corrupted and rotten , and……….
Has had to be rebuild ,which is still on going……….
HH has done extremely well………
@KAPS..you will continually be blaming everyone except yourselves until your time is up. No one will stop you, but time will.
HH has done extremely well? What dreamland do you exist in? He cant even enforce his own rules on his ministers who are defying his “No business class” instruction on their Jo-burg flights.
Govt of Gloves & Graphs
The level of pettiness is shocking……….
What if those ministers tell you they paid the difference to upgrade to business class ???
……
My Zambia
It is ineffect a 10 year mandate……
By 2026, the masses will be crying for more of this project HH has began…….
Come 2031, there will be cries from all corners of zambia to extend the presidents rule……….
of this great enterprise called zambia, as mumba Jr used to say.
@KAPS..The President is in charge. Why would he complain if the subordinates paid extra money to move to 1st class? Who does that? Just listen to yourself. That my brother defeats your lame argument.
–
As for 2031, the only people wishing for his continued stay are those close to his bossom who would want to selfishly benefit if he stayed much longer. And you are part of that cliche.
@Spaka thats why UPND is losing it. Cadres like you are out of step with your own government. “What if those ministers tell me…?” Its your president that is crying for his ministers to stop using Business class flights so why dont they tell him what you are shamelessly spewing here?
The Minister of Energy not too long ago assured us of no load shedding. Now this. I was moderated a few days ago when I actually called him out. This dry spell has been forecast so it is not as if no one knew. Ala ifyabupuba muleke! You cannot use politics to weasel yourselves into positions of authority. IT REQUIRES WORK TOO!
Yes I remember sleepy Kapala confidently assuring the nation of a loadshedding free year
Wasn‘t load-shedding supposed to be a thing of the past? This assertion was confidently stated in an article.
Are we lacking forward-thinking, strategic planning, sustainability, among other crucial elements? Our African leaders never cease to astound me. Can you guess who is to be blamed?
Africa does not stop to amaze me…..
All nature’s creatures are supposed to bow to HH including the water in the Kariba Dam.
60 years after independence and we still can’t figure out how to generate electricity 365 days a year…24 hours a day…even bigger economies like South Africa…Nigeria…Zimbabwe etc are failing to generate electricity for 365 days….something wrong with us Africans….we’re good at finding excuses why it can’t be done….blame it on drought….America is good at explaining why it can be done….thats why i love USA
Yes, Blame everything on the previous government.
When tides are low, PF takes the blame. When hay days come, they will tell us about how visionary, and foresighted they are. Everything seemingly good is a result of UPND policy. These guys are infallible. Blameless.
@Spaka… yes PF borrowed but so have you since you assumed office. Please before you write something kindly check stats and facts. We know that Upnd has borrowed more than PF if divide by the number of years in power.
For your own information…Nigeria has no working Government….no working Municipality….No working Electricity supply company….if you’re building a house in Nigeria you have to generate your own electricity…your own sanitation…your own water supply and i see this is where Zambia is heading to….very soon people will be advised to produce their own electricity and water supply…….and meanwhile we have Supreme grade copper deposits and abundant other natural resources worth trillions
When i was in Primary school we used to learn about Drought and Famine in Ethiopia…but now Ethiopia has Electricity 365 days a year…Has the biggest Airline in Africa and you find speed electric trains in Ethiopia….no IMF no World Bank and no Copper
Ethiopia now has one of the biggest dams in Africa
Correction: The biggest airline in Africa is SAA but the most succesful/profitable airline is Ethiopian Airlines
Bring back colonial rule and lets all be friends and live happily ever after
#Spaka… kindly mind your language. I left Wusakile a long time ago but I still keep my dictionary of insults…. please let me not open it I don’t want to disappoint my followers.
Where did I commit bad language ???
I dare you to show………??
By telling to go and urinate in kariba ??
That is what PF told us…..and you say we are copying PF………
Just go over your posts… you suggest that I…. to fill the Kariba Dam….of course you don’t understand even what you post.
Bottom line is that UPND has become jokers….
You have to get used the jokes…..
2031 is a long ways……
Forwadee 2031…..
There are numerous articles in the Lusaka Times wherein Zesco leadership and Ministry of Energy assured the people of Zambia that load shedding was a thing of the past. They must be called upon to be held accountable for misleading the nation about energy in Zambia. It is imperative that they apologise for deceiving the nation and undermining it’s trust. Following this, they should resign from their positions.
Someone on here is DESPARTELY TRYING TO BE “HOLIER THAN THOU”
8th February – Kapala minister of energy boldly announces even though we have low water levels there will be NO load shedding this year as we have already put in place measures to import the deficit. One week later the finance minister says we will have to have load shedding due to low water levels which is then confirmed by the President in his address. If I was Kapala I should have resigned on my own out of sheer embarrassment.
Does anyone really resign? Instead, they issue another heel turn statement showing no remorse as if nothing on the contrary on the matter was ever said earlier? Ni ku zi caila cabe.
Someone correct me if am wrong. We are in an economical crisis yet our home affairs minister is classifying our hard working kids as junks. Can someone remind him that being in an air conditioned office doesn’t mean he is better. If we take him there he won’t even make a coin. What criteria is being used to call our children junks? I submit
SHAMEFUL
DO MEAN TO SAY ALL THOSE HDRO STATIONS CONSTRUCTED BY THE PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT HAVE NOT CHANGED ANYTHING?
WE NEED A TECHNICAL EXPLANATION
That is the problem here………..
They finished the money on projects that are vaunrable to low water flows……..
They don’t understand
DO MEAN TO SAY ALL THOSE HDRO STATIONS…..
DO YOU MEAN TO SAY ALL THOSE HDRO STATIONS……….HAVE NOT CHANGED ANYTHING?
Someone correct me if am wrong. We are in an economical crisis yet our home affairs minister is classifying our hard working kids as junks. Can someone remind him that being in an air conditioned office doesn’t mean he is better. If we take him there he won’t even make a coin. What criteria is being used to call our children junks? I submit
Please let us hold them accountable for misleading the nation about load-shedding not happening anymore, and they must resign.
How much electricity is being exported out as we speak?
Zambians should refuse this misrule of HH. Jobs, food, electricity being exported away while Zambians are sidelined in decisions about their country. Mines all being sold off without Zambians owning anything.
WE WANT THE MINES We want the Mines kikikikikiki
Hakainde Hichilema was lucky that we had Edgar Lungu in State House otherwise if it was a normal person, there was no way HH would have won. The PF vision was disrupted by the cobra’s death. And unfortunately he was replaced by Edgar Lungu who may not even have stolen but because he was always in a trance things just started going haywire.
These people are just useless
https:ilovezedmusic.com
so load shadding will end next year.
Here we go again can’t we just move forward and not backwards.
I gave a beautiful idea to the government a longtime ago where I said, use CDF to construct canals that will be taking water to Kariba by each district doing the construction and connect them especially from the northern region where rains are abundant, all those water that goes down the drainages should be channeled to Kariba.
Instead of making this political, why not bringing up your great ideas. I am pretty sure the ruling government is ready to here because this is more than them.