Power deal haunting nation and the sweetheart deal that cost Zesco millions of dollars
ON MAY 29, 2020, Minister of Energy Mathew Nkhuwa announced a new sweeping law that declared all transmission lines, including those belonging to the Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC), as a common carrier, ending the Lusaka Securities Exchange-listed company’s reign as the sole supplier of electricity to the Copperbelt, chiefly the mines. But the move is now playing like a bitter divorce with a cut-throat row over child custody between CEC and Zesco Limited. Zesco, a public institution, has over the years been hard done by the lopsided power deal and is now seeking parity or a reversal altogether. JACK ZIMBA reports. THE marriage between Zesco and CEC that has lasted 23 years could best be described in one word – COMPLICATED. It all started in 1997 at the height of a World Bank-induced privatisation drive. Government was selling, with some companies, including mines, priced to go. But the conglomerate Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) was too big to sell