Binga District Left In The Dark, Says MP
Fanuel Cumanzala, the Member of Parliament for Binga South, has criticised the government for failing to extend connectivity to the national grid in Binga District, reported Southern Eye.
Electricity is generated from Lake Kariba, which displaced the BaTonga people during its construction in the 1950s, yet the local people are not benefitting.
During a session in the National Assembly, the CCC MP challenged Energy and Power Development Minister Edgar Moyo to explain why his constituency is not benefiting from the lake, especially considering that the local community made sacrifices for its creation. He said:
May you please explain why Binga people are not enjoying the benefits of having the Lake Kariba Hydroelectric Power Station, considering that they paved way for the construction of the lake?
There are two issues here. The first issue is how Binga or the Zambezi combined communities are benefiting from the Zambezi River Authority initiative, that is the Zambezi River Development Fund, which is appreciated, but I wish the minister could indicate where some of those projects that he mentioned are located in those specific districts.
I am very familiar with Hurungwe, Kariba, Binga and Hwange. Then the second issue has to do with power supply itself.
Cumanzala said Binga has not benefited from the electricity generated at Lake Kariba for many years. He claimed that power lines were erected in areas like Lusulu and Chapuwa a decade ago; however, these lines have never been operational since their construction. He said:
The poles are down, the copper cables are down. It is fortunate that most of our people do not steal, should I say otherwise, they could have vandalised the poles and stolen the copper lines, but they have been down for a long time now.
Maybe the minister could explain why they have been down for this long and what plans are in place to make sure that those areas are covered by electricity because this is where the majority of the schools are.
This is where the majority of the population lives. The clinics which are in those areas have no electricity. The schools have no electricity.
In response, Moyo told Parliament that the Zambezi River Authority established the Zambezi Valley Development Fund in 1997.
He said the fund aims to finance sustainable infrastructure and development projects to mitigate the impact of the displacement of the Tonga and Kore Kore people on both sides of the Zambezi River in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Said Moyo:
These are the communities which were displaced during the construction of Kariba Dam. The Zambezi Valley Development Fund has funded various infrastructural and developmental projects which include the procurement and restoration of grinding mills, sinking of boreholes, and construction of schools and houses for support staff in respective project sites, among other things.
He said some of the projects had been implemented in Binga, Hurungwe, Gokwe North and Kariba districts. Moyo said:
Projects completed under the Siabuwa line include four chiefs’ homesteads, four clinics, 11 primary schools, five secondary schools, two business centres and the Transport ministry houses.
However, the Siabuwa line has been down for a long time and repairs could not be done due to financial constraints at ZETDC [Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company] to secure materials, labour and transport.
Despite these constraints, ZETDC has been working on these lines and to date has covered about 20km of the estimated 60km line.
ZETDC has seen improvement in resources availability and expect to finish the line by end of December 2024.
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