De-politicise REA to power up rural areas, says energy expert
By OLIVER SAMBOKO
THE Rural Electrification Authority (REA) should be de-politicisedand allowed to function professionally in the provision of electricity to rural areas for the benefit of all Zambians, an energy expert Victor Hazemba has said.
Mr Hazemba also suggested the mandate of transmitting, distributing and billing of rural areas should be given to REA, while Zesco should remain with the urban areas, to allow for efficiency.
“This way, it will allow REA to be more efficient which will result in more rural population to have access to electricity,” he said.
He said in its current form, REA cannot be expected to increase access to electricity in rural areas from the current four percent to the projected 50 percent by 2030.
Mr Hazemba said there is need to equalise the transmission and distribution of electricity to all rural areas to promote access and improve economic activities among the rural population.
He said despite the long existence of REA, not much has been achieved towards connecting the rural areas to the national grid.
Mr Hazemba observed that during the previous government, areas that supported the ruling party received more connectivity compared to the perceived opposition strongholds, and except for chiefs’ palaces that endorsed the PF towards the general elections.
He warned that as long as politics is allowed to decide who should be connected first, REA will continue being irrelevant to people’s expectations.
Mr Hazemba said going forward, no such thing should be allowed to happen considering that the funds REA is administering is public money provided by the people regardless of their political affiliation.
