via Rolling power outages plague Zimbabwe | SW Radio Africa by Tichaona Sibanda on Tuesday, October 1, 2013

The ongoing spate of power outages in the country has created anger, frustration and much debate as to the nature of these energy cuts.

In the heat of this frustration and anger the ruling ZANU PF government has come in for much criticism for its inability to deliver power to the country.

Lionel Saungweme, our Bulawayo correspondent, told us that while the power utility company ZESA has the responsibility to generate electricity for commercial and residential use, they are not entirely to blame for the current crisis.

Saungweme told our weekly Speak out-Padare program that if anyone is to be blamed it is the government, for failing in their collective responsibility to plan effectively and strategize for electricity provision.

‘If ZANU PF can pay Nikuv $10 million to rig the elections, what stops them from investing the same amount of cash to repair and perform maintenance on existing infrastructure,’ he said.

The problem is however not new. The country’s power supply has been stagnant since independence. In the last three decades there was no investment in electricity supply, despite surging demand.

Saungweme said the recent unprecedented outages have paralysed social and economic activities in most parts of the country.

‘Recently I travelled from Harare to Bulawayo and the towns and cities were in darkness due to total power cuts, a situation which has affected the livelihood of the residents, who now rely on generators for homes and businesses.

‘The constant power cuts have brought untold hardships to many people, especially in urban areas. Currently, lack of electricity supply is one major crisis facing the country and it seems the government is clueless to rectify the crisis,’ Saungweme added.