‘Consumers should pay up’

Sunday Mail Reporter Defaulters are partly to blame for Zimbabwe’s electricity shortages as their cumulative debt — if liquidated — could boost power generation, an economist has said. Zesa is owed over US$900 million, with domestic customers accounting for the largest chunk.

Dr Gift Mugano, an economics researcher, said: “Consumers have incapacitated the company in some way because that money could have been used to build a power plant or buy new power equipment.

“Thus, to some extent, consumers are partly to blame for the power problems we are facing. “There is also need for Zesa to install prepaid electricity meters in the remaining households that do not have these meters so as to recover money from all defaulters.” Another economist, Mr Brains Muchemwa, took a swipe at Zesa for lacking soild debt collection mechanisms. “Of course, there is need for consumers to pay their debts, but when it comes to the power crisis, the blame should be put on the utility company. “Its mandate is to generate and supply power to customers, thus they should come up with proper debt collection mechanisms.”

In August 2015, Zesa resolved to disconnect supplies to defaulters — even those on prepaid meters — as part of measures to recover its dues. However, the power utility made a U-turn, though it said it would reconsider the policy in future.