ZESCO LOST K20M ON CB THROUGH VANDALISM LAST YEAR
MORE than K20 million was last year lost by ZESCO through vandalism and theft of electricity installations with more than 400 convictions being secured “Copperbelt Senior Regional Manager Clement Twenda has said.
Mr Twenda said most of the faults and outages which customers were experiencing in various townships were due to thefts and vandalism of electricity installations which were resulting into the electricity company losing millions of money to replacing the vandalized and stolen installations.
Mr Twenda said during the media interaction with some Kitwe based Journalists that he was saddened at the rampant theft and vandalism on the Copperbelt.
“I can tell you that from the time I came here, on the Copperbelt, I have seen the worst form of vandalism and theft of electricity installations. Almost every day, there is vandalism and theft of electricity installations which result into power outages and faults. This is retrogressive because money meant for improving other areas of service delivery is being used to replace stolen or vandalized electricity installations.
“From last year, Zesco lost more than K20 million through rampant theft and vandalism of electricity installations. We also secured more than 400 convictions. So we decided to have an interaction with you so that we see how we can move together to fight vandalism and improve service delivery,” Mr Twenda said.
Mr Twenda also said the electricity utility company was also making progress in terms of making new connections which many people were complaining about
And some members of the media expressed concern at the attitude of some Zesco workers whenever a fault attitude, while others suspected that some law enforcement officers could be involved in the rampant theft and vandalism of electricity installations because of their negative attitude whenever they were tipped with concrete evidence leading to the suspects of those involved in the rampant theft and vandalism of electricity installations.
The members of the media who were speaking on grounds of anonymity told Mr Twenda that they suspect that some of the law enforcement agencies may be working in connivance with those involved in the rampant theft and vandalism of electricity installations
“How do you relate with some of these police officers? We are asking because we have had situations where have reported suspects of vandalism but the attitude of some of the officers have been so cold hence our suspicion that they may be involved in the rampant theft and vandalism of electricity Installations” said some Journalists.
And Mr Twenda jumped to the defence of the Zesco employees when he was asked whether it was true that some of the m were working with some criminals to steal Zesco cables and other electricity installations
He said it was not only Zesco employees who handle electricity but even those from the mines were handling electricity and can also work in connivance with criminals to steal Zesco cables and other installations.