PF roasts HH over Zesco power cut remarks

Sat, 26 Nov 2016 13:43:58 +0000

THE Patriotic Front is relieved that ZESCO has restored power to five provinces that were in darkness following a fault caused by lightning on the 330 KV transmission line from Kabwe to Serenje.

PF deputy spokesperson Frank Bwalya, however, said instead of sympathising with the people in the affected areas who stayed in the dark for five days and had their foodstuffs go bad, UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema decided to mislead the public, claiming that the fault was due to incompetence by alleged PF cadres at ZESCO.

“ZESCO explained that lightning burnt conductors extensively over a distance of about 10 kilometers and rains hampered their work. We are disappointed that the UPND leader again tried to derive cheap political mileage from a national misfortune.

‘‘Moreover, instead of regretting the effect of the development on the national economy and critical sectors such as health, Mr Hichilema decided to create the impression that Government was complacent and yet he knew very well that ZESCO was working around the clock to rectify the problem and restore power,” said Mr Bwalya. Mr Bwalya said he understood and sympathised with ZESCO regarding the reasons advanced for taking a relatively long period of five days to restore electricity supply to the affected areas.

He accused Mr Hichilema of being immoral and highly irresponsible and asked him to stop his attempts to ‘‘ride on the misfortune of our people for cheap political mileage’’. He advised the opposition leader that Zambians would continue to abhor his leadership style if he continued to exhibit his ‘‘heartless attitude’’ towards the suffering of the people. Fr. Bwalya said Mr Hichilema needed to understand that people did not appreciate leaders who took advantage of misfortunes to advance narrow selfish interests.