ENERGY and Power Development minister Dzikamai Mavhaire yesterday came under fire in Parliament when he told MPs that improving the power generation in the country was not as easy as “cooking sadza”.
VENERANDA LANGA SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER
Kuwadzana MP Nelson Chamisa (MDC-T) said President Robert Mugabe should give Zimbabwe serious ministers.
Chamisa’s comments came after Mavhaire was asked by Harare Central MP Murisi Zvizwai to explain how his ministry was planning to mitigate load-shedding.
Chamisa asked Mavhaire to explain how soon electricity problems would be over and Mavhaire responded: “hydro-plant construction is not like cooking sadza”.
Chamisa charged: “Our problems cannot be likened to cooking sadza and President Mugabe should ensure he gives us serious ministers and not what we are seeing here.”
Mavhaire later apologised to Chamisa saying he had cited a bad example.
“I am sorry if he did not understand my example, but I am saying Hwange Seven and Eight will give us electricity in 2017, and the solar panels we are constructing will be complete in 2016, and the situation is that we will get electricity more than the demand once they are completed,” he said.
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Mavhaire had earlier said load-shedding was going to continue for a long time because extension of thermal, solar and hydro-stations was going to take years to complete.
“Load-shedding will be with us for some time and I believe all MPs know we have shortages of generation of power in this country — and it is not only Zimbabwe, but the whole of Southern Africa,” he said.
“We are doing our level best to set up a number of plants from hydroelectric power stations in Kariba, thermal power stations in Hwange and we also have a vibrant policy on solar power and very soon we will be going to green energy.”
Meanwhile, Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo said the government had suspended selling of government houses to sitting tenants to ensure new employees in the civil service had accommodation.
Chombo also came under fire over failure by Chitungwiza Town Council to pay its employees’ salaries with MDC-T MPs Willias Madzimure (Kambuzuma) and Godfrey Sithole (Chitungwiza North) alleging councils were failing to pay salaries to workers due to Chombo’s populist pronunciations in 2013 that all debts should be cancelled.
“It becomes critical that sitting fathers and councils need to make decisions to retrench staff so that they keep sufficient staff that they are able to pay.
“That decision is not made by the ministry, it is made by the mayor,” Chombo said.
While answering to another question by Glen Norah MP Webster Maondera (MDC-T) on whether Harare Council bosses’ hefty salaries had been cut, Chombo said Harare mayor Bernard Manyenyeni had not yet updated him
“I read that the mayor appeared before a Parliamentary Committee, but up to today he has not briefed me about his trip and what transpired — and even that he has problems. What I only know is that his senior officials have not been paid for the past four months,” Chombo said.
