‘Political interference hindering Zesco growth’
By ADRIAN MWANZA
POLITICAL interference has been a major hindrance to the growth of Zesco and will continue if the problem is not rectified, energy expert Johnstone Chikwanda has said.
Mr Chikwanda said when he featured on Camnet TV’s The Economic Brief Case, that political interference was an historic problem which started in the UNIP days up to the present.
He said that it was unfortunate that some qualified directors fail to deliver because they are vulnerable to external forces.
“Most people at Zesco and other similar companies are very qualified but the problem is that they are coerced by external forces,” Mr Chikwanda said.
And on unbundling Zesco, Mr Chikwanda said that it would be pointless if political influence was still at play.
He said that it would be wise for the government to do a technical study before coming up with the decision of whether to unbundle or not.
Mr Chikwanda said unbundling had two aspects as the organisations could either do well while others would be a disaster and forced re-bundle.
“For countries like Zimbabwe and another in East Africa, it was a disaster and they were forced to revert to the normal routine,” he said.
He however said that as things stood, a decision had not yet been made whether to unbundle or not.
