It is dangerous....

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako 

 The phrase “it’s not about how much you earn, but how you use it” makes so much sense to what is going in Zambia concerning hydroelectric supply. It is very dangerous to live as if there is no tomorrow.  It is more dangerous not to identify what is more important from what is important. How on earth did we arrive at having to reach at a point where power supply is almost becoming impossible in the country? From the billions of dollars we have invested in roads, ‘universities,’ stadia, and other things; why did we neglect diversification of power generation?

 In a serious country, some heads should be rolling by now for allowing us arrive at such a limbo. ZESCO have been in existence for ages, why cannot it have alternative energy for heaven’s sake? Does it mean people outside ZESCO corridors are the only ones who see relying on one source of energy to be very precarious? It is furious to see things going asunder in such a manner when we have all sorts of institutions that would have provided projectory plans and implement them to save the country.

Who wants to invest in a country in so much misery? Who wants to waste their money in a country where the cost of doing business is so high because support systems are dying and cannot sustain things? We must be kidding, we must be from a different strange planet where humans bury their heads in sand and pretend all shall be well by the time we plucked off our heads from the sand.

If ZESCO cannot invest in capital projects to increase power supply and diversifying power generation, then it is not worth having in the first place. We are better off forgetting about it and look somewhere else. Talk about money, how much dollars have we gotten via loans, grants and bonds? We would have prioritised things for heaven’s sake than to end in such a chaotic situation. What is the point of having beautiful roads and live in darkness, fail to produce and have all businesses shut down due to non availability of power? We can do better.

Look at the sunshine we have, that is straight forward energy. We have the wind; we can get something from there as well. Human waste from our sewer systems can be another source of energy [bio-energy]. What else do we need for us to bridge this power shortfall? Rains are not going to be normal anytime soon because climatic effects are taking a serious toil of weather patterns. So whether we cry, cut ourselves in pieces in praying for rains, scream on top of our voices in jiving and build national cathedrals in every corner; nothing will happen to bring rains to their old good years when we had it rosy. Times have changed; climate change has distorted so much.

If we don’t think outside the box and use our heads to get around things we will be swum over into darkness and all sectors of the economy will be crippled. Investors will not come to Zambia anymore without power being available. They are coming to invest not a holiday. Without factors of production in place, forget. They will put their money somewhere. Not only investors will shun Zambia, local businesses will die too. The cost of doing business will go up and production will crumble.

First things first, invest in right places to drive the economy to where we can invest in auxiliary sectors. Energy is a major pillar of the economy. Without it, you can very little. It is depressing seeing the level of non futuristic minds in citizens and leaders. In fact these climatic change effects seen today were projected long ago and our dear metrological department and disaster management systems never bothered to utilise international data exchange on climate change or El Niño.

Why did we prepare for what is achievable to prevent the effects’ negativity? We would have invested in alternative energy, away from the unworkable hydro-power. We would have looked at irrigation systems to save the masses from impending hunger due to drought. El Niño is in fact here for another year. It is here for three consecutive years starting with 2015, 2016 and 2017. The effects will come either as floods, no rains or heat waves. That is when the metrological and disaster management departments should have gotten to work when these projections were made. But typical of lazy man’s mindset, we waited and thought something will happen to reverse the effects of El Niño. We are kidding; no miracle or magic will remove El Niño.

It is time we start investing in right places. We need futuristic energy plans that embrace different types of energy. We should stop depending on single sources of life...be it energy or whatever. We are to think outside the box. We need to broaden our horizon.