Group knocks govt for failure to subsidize petroleum products, electricity

Fight Inequality Alliance (FIA) Zambia says the elimination of subsidies on energy and the resulting hike in electricity tariffs and fuel pump prices has entrenched inequality.

FIA Zambia National Coordinator, Mputa Ngalande, pointed out that small-scale businesses depend on electricity, yet they were grappling with eight hours of load shedding, which exacerbates another form of inequality.

In a statement issued in Lusaka on Sunday, Ngalande stated that ZESCO was not adhering to the promised schedule, which caused additional disruptions for small-scale businesses.

He added that electricity tariffs increase would disadvantage small scale businesses such as barbershops, saloons and welders.

Ngalande alleged that mines owed ZESCO significant amounts of money due to their higher consumption compared to ordinary citizens.

He said this underscored the necessity to prioritize the protection of citizens’ interests.

“We are taking away more from the population. Consumption of electricity from small scale businesses and homes is not as much as compared to the mines. If we look at multinational corporations and how much they owe ZESCO, it is huge but ordinary people continue to be on the receiving end of policies,” he added.

Ngalande also stated that bad policies like the ones on energy, keep pushing people that are already living on the frontlines of inequality, to more poverty.

“This is because people need to pay more for transport because subsidies were removed on fuel. We also need to pay more for electricity. We urge authorities to reconsider some policies to implement those that speak to cushioning citizens which is the major responsibility of the government,” he said.

Ngalande further urged government to take responsibility to give breathing space to citizens from economic crises happening currently.

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