Former Zambian President Edgar Lungu has accused his successor, Hakainde Hichilema, of being responsible for the power blackout that struck the country on Sunday, leaving critical institutions like hospitals without electricity.
The power outages affected both Zambia and Zimbabwe, which are currently facing an ongoing power crisis, largely due to declining water levels at Lake Kariba.
Zambia’s power utility, ZESCO Limited, confirmed that the system disturbance occurred shortly after 8 PM on Sunday.
In a statement, Lungu alleged that the blackout was caused by undue interference by Hichilema’s government in ZESCO’s operations. Said Lungu:
The national power blackout we experienced last night is an ultimate manifestation and clear confirmation of how ZESCO, our national utility company, has been driven into complete ruins by the New Doom government.
This once vibrant national power utility is now a shell of itself because the top managers and various competent officers were purged, after the 2021 general elections, on politcal and other grounds I will not name because Mr Hakainde Hichilema will consider them as sedition or hate speech.
Now we are paying, as a country, a bitter price for that unwarranted victimisation of competent and professional officers who knew better how to manage that sensitive national asset.
Lungu suggested that the power blackouts may have contributed to the deaths of patients in hospitals who relied on life-saving equipment powered by electricity. He said:
During our time in government as PF, the longest load shedding period did not exceed 17 hours. It is this period Mr Hichilema described as unbearable and campaigned to end once voted into office.
Today, under Mr Hichilema’s watch, most households and businesses are going for more than 48 straight hours and even more in some cases without power supply…
Surely, Zambians cannot continue to subject themselves to a leadership that sees no problem in having delicate facilities such as hospitals and others that directly touch on the wellbeing of our citizens being load-shedded.
At what cost in terms of lost lives and businesses will this government take such matters seriously and act to ensure that the lives and businesses are protected?
More: Pindula News