RESIDENTS COMPLAIN OF CORRUPTION BY ZESA OFFICIALS
By Linda Moyo

Bulawayo residents have questioned the criteria that the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority uses to disconnect power supply in residential areas and complain of rampant corrupt tendencies by the Authority’s officials.

Speaking during a Public Dialogue Meeting organized by Habakkuk Trust at the Bulawayo Small City Hall recently, residents complained that instead of targeting those consumers who do not pay their bills ZESA officials deliberately disconnect those that have little balances and then have the potential to pay bribes.

‘We want to know as residents the criteria that you use to disconnect your services as we have seen you disconnect for those that pay regularly, and the very people will obviously be talked into paying something else for reconnection?’ asked one Linda Ncube.

In response however the ZESA Regional Manager Mr Chinaka insisted that the authority targets those that have never paid since multi-currencing and then those that have paid little. ‘There is no way we can do that, what we do is look at who has never paid, then next on target is those that have paid once, twice up until everyone is disconnected,’ said Chinaka.

Furthermore the Minister of State Enterprises and Parastatals, Gorden Moyo, informed residents that his Ministry had passed a Corporate Governance Framework that aims at curbing corruption in the parastatals.

According to Hon. Moyo the framework will mandate parastatals to be audited and flight their audited financial reports on newspapers. Moreover the framework is based on Ubuntu philosophy, values and principles where the use of parastatals for personal and political gains is prohibited.

‘This framework is based on Ubuntu philosophy and those parastatals that charge high bills for personal and political gains will be dealt with-in the framework because we won’t have people charging outrageous bills for purposes of paying salaries, ’ said Hon. Moyo.