ZESA Switches Off Defaulting Farmers

Power utility ZESA Holdings’ electricity distribution unit, Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has started switching off farmers across the country over the ZWL$1 billion it is owed by the farming community.

Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU) president, Shadreck Makombe, told Business Weekly that the disconnections will likely compromise yields, especially for winter wheat growers. Said Makombe:

Farmers now experience quite some challenges and some are complaining of being switched off because there was an understanding that for those who are owing, a stop order mechanism can be done so that when they deliver their wheat to GMB (Grain Marketing Board) ZESA can thus recoup their dues.

And we thought there was an understanding in that regard. In some areas now it’s really a challenge because the power supply is quite erratic as they are being switched off.

So, we are appealing to ZESA to bear with us. There are some who are owing and we know it shouldn’t be like that but circumstances differ.

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But if somebody has got the wheat and then you switch off, how do you expect that person to pay and by doing so? They are even destroying the farmer.

ZETDC acting chief executive officer Howard Choga, in a separate interview, said the farmers were owing over $1 billion.

Meanwhile, Makombe said part of the electricity bills were accrued by some previous farmers who occupied the farms. He said:

We are querying that amount because you would find some of the money is not necessarily of the current farmers.

So, based on the argument that some farmers who were sitting on these farms were owing, it becomes a legacy debt.

We are saying ZESA should also spruce up their debt because the figure here can be big but we were saying if you go farmer by farmer, it may not be like that.

And of course, notwithstanding the fact, we are encouraging our farmers to pay their bills because if we don’t pay energy, it’s not only an enabler but a major key player in our business.

More: Business Weekly