by Richard Nyamanhindi – SANF 08 No 18
In most elections, energy, and more specifically electricity, is usually near the bottom of the list of concerns that voters will base their decisions on.
However, in the present campaign in Zimbabwe for elections on 29 March, energy has surfaced as a defining issue that has encouraged all parties and their candidates to focus their attention.
Although essential issues such as land, health, education, accommodation and employment have taken centre stage during most of the campaign, energy has been one topical issue that aspiring candidates have promised to make available if elected into office.
Simba Makoni’s manifesto for instance, discusses pertinent issues such as poverty, unemployment, spiralling inflation and high cost of living, education, health, housing, water, and other services, but it also dedicates a paragraph on how the independent presidential candidate will deal with the energy shortages facing the country if elected into the highest office in the land.
Addressing a rally at in the Harare suburb of Mabvuku on the Easter weekend, the former finance minister said he would recapitalize the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) to adequately meet the energy demands of the country and if possible export extra energy to the region.
“Simba (which when translated means power) is going to give you more power after the 29 March historic election. There will be no more blackouts and load-shedding that has characterized our nation for the past three years,” he promised.
The ruling ZANU PF has also acknowledged the current energy difficulties that the country and the region are facing as a result of high demand and insufficient generation capacity, saying the party has pragmatic solutions.
Addressing thousands of supporters at Stanley Square in Makokoba, Bulawayo, President Robert Mugabe said his government is well aware of the energy problems facing the country.
“I want to remind you that electricity shortages are not peculiar to Zimbabwe, they are a regional challenge.”
Mugabe also said the government is pursuing both long and short-term solutions to the power crunch.
Among long-term projects is the installation of two more turbines at Kariba Power Station to boost generation capacity, to be supported in the short term by the refurbishment at Hwange Thermal Power Station. Work is also underway at Harare, Bulawayo and Munyati thermal power stations.
Mugabe said the government is working with various partners to exploit the coal deposits in Gokwe to generate more thermal electricity and is also harnessing solar energy using the expertise of partners from India.
To prevent any disruptions during the voting process, Mugabe said that high-output generators are being distributed throughout the country for Saturday’s harmonized elections.
Even smaller parties such as the Voice of the People (VoP) have come up with their own blueprints on how to “permanently” deal with the current electricity shortages.
This was highlighted by Moreprecision Muzadzi of the VoP during a manifesto presentation on the local television station, when he told voters they should elect his party into power because they have a grand plan for the nation as far as the energy problem is concerned. He did not, however, reveal the plan to the electorate.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) headed by Arthur Mutambara, represented by Edward Manning who is campaigning for the council seat in Bulawayo Central, promised that once in power his party will exploit the vast deposits of methane gas in the Lupane area in Matebeleland North.
“Lupane boasts of one of the largest deposits of methane in the region. As a party we are going to bring in investors to exploit these, freeze them and export them to get the much-needed foreign currency. Forget electricity, we are going with gas,” he said while addressing a meeting in central Bulawayo.
The energy crisis nevertheless is not peculiar to Zimbabwe.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) as a regional bloc is currently facing a shortage of electricity generation capacity that has seen the member states developing mutual strategies for an enduring solution.
The major reason for the current shortage is the high demand that has outstripped supply, largely due to the positive economic growth in most parts of the region, as well as rural electrification projects in most countries.
Installed capacity in the region stands at 54,742 MW of which only 46,391 MW is available.
Such a development has made it difficult to guarantee uninterrupted power supplies in countries such as Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The regional power grid is interconnected through the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) and most countries in the SADC do not operate their power utilities as isolated entities.
Thus it seems that, all over the region until 2012 when the problem is expected to ease, most of the elections taking place within SADC may have the energy issue high on the agenda.
