Standard Comment: Zesa denials shield electricity looters
Zesa Holdings has always maintained a veil of secrecy around the accounts of
politicians who are not paying their astronomical bills.
Hiding behind client confidentiality, Zesa is trying to sweep under the
carpet a brewing scandal involving the politicians.
But it’s now a matter of public record that ministers, permanent
secretaries, MPs and military strongmen who have vast properties and
multiple farms have not been paying their power bills which amount to
millions of dollars. This is a scandal of the same magnitude as the War
Victim’s Compensation Fund which the same Zanu PF clique looted.
In a cynical move, Zesa has descended heavily on poor people groaning under
the weight of prolonged periods of power rationing; their bills hardly ever
exceed US$200 per month but have had their homes disconnected. The same
vigilance apparently doesn’t apply to the ruling elite, who have accrued
bills of up to US$400 000 for a single household.
These unscrupulous politicians should be ashamed of themselves for
plundering the power utility that is saddled with a huge power import debt.
The scandal at Zesa is only a tip of the iceberg. Other parastatals like the
Zimbabwe National Water Authority are also owed millions of dollars by the
same politicians and their cronies.
Recently it was reported that the GMB had been looted by the selfsame
coterie of maniacs who see themselves as divinely ordained to rule this
country, and therefore have the right to do as they please.
This systematic looting of parastatals is so deep-rooted in Zimbabwe that it
is bleeding the economy. It is in this light that denials by Zesa that no
big people owe the struggling parastatals anything becomes untrue and
therefore unhelpful.
The denials only show that the organisation is led by a management that is
keen to ingratiate itself with the political leadership while not concerned
about the wellbeing of the power utility itself and the common people who
pay their bills under very difficult conditions.
Politicians are people’s servants and therefore must be held accountable to
them. The press has done the right thing by bringing them to public
scrutiny.