PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has assured the country that his government is not just seated and doing nothing over the current power crisis in the country but is working round the clock to resolve it.
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Speaking when he opened the fifth session of the 13th National Assembly yesterday, President Hichilema stated that load shedding had not spared anyone in the country as he too was affected.
“We are very sympathetic to this situation. We feel the pain and frustration of power outages faced by citizens, which include our own families, friends and loved communities. No one has been spared by the shortage of electricity,” he said.
“Our government is therefore, madam speaker, sleepless on this matter. It’s not a joke, it’s not a time to shout at each other. We accept the situation and we must work together to come out faster.”
The Head of State explained that energy was critical to industrialisation and national development and the current hardships in the power sector had severely affected the livelihoods of citizens.
President Hichilema stated that in the 57 years prior to 2021, growth in demand for power significantly outstripped investment in generation, transmission and distribution.
He said the problem had long been ignored and was compounded by drought which left the country exposed.
The President therefore urged Members of Parliament and others who can afford solar to invest in it at household level so that the national grid can be freed up for poorer communities who cannot afford alternative power.
“I invite people in this house to invest in solar for your own house so that power you make goes to someone in the compound. Take advantage, you can afford it in this house.”
“The people in Bauleni, the compounds cannot afford, so we who can, let’s invest in solar. Let no one say that we are seated and doing nothing, we are doing a lot but more can be done,” stated the Head of State.
He cited ongoing and completed projects such as the 94 megawatts CEC Itimpi solar station in Kitwe, the 100 megawatts Chisamba solar project, and the 300 megawatts Maamba thermal expansion due next year as part of government’s drive to diversify the energy mix.
President Hichilema said the new solar projects scheduled to come online over the next 12 months would add 740 megawatts to the national grid, spread across seven provinces, while additional private sector projects were in development to push new capacity beyond 1,000 megawatts.
He disclosed that Zambia had signed onto the Mission-300 initiative alongside other African states, committing to deliver 10 gigawatts of power by 2030 as part of efforts to give 3.2 million unserved Zambians access to electricity.
“At present, we are faced with the reality of a power deficit which is affecting households, high-density communities, small businesses, farmers and individuals. This is hurting all Zambians,” he said.
“But tackling the challenge of load shedding is currently the top priority of this government. We have a plan and we are working hard, day and night, to improve the situation.”
President Hichilema outlined that government was not only investing in generation projects but was also upgrading transmission infrastructure and promoting off-grid solutions in rural areas beyond the reach of the national grid.
He said the energy sector had been further liberalised through an open access regime that allows any willing developer to supply power to any willing customer, alongside the introduction of private power trading, tariff blending, interconnectors with neighbouring countries and net metering, which enables citizens to supply excess solar power back to the grid.
“This has created an alternative off-take avenue for developers, in addition to the traditional Zesco off take,” he explained.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, September 13, 2025
