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Engineer Josh Chifamba

Business Reporter
POWER utility Zesa Holdings will introduce electricity recharge cards mid next month to ease congestion at purchase points for prepaid power, group chief executive Eng Josh Chifamba has said.Zimbabwe started rolling out the prepaid meter system as part of efforts to help manage power consumption amid crippling shortages.

The meters would also enhance Zesa’s billing system.

The system requires that all consumers pay for electricity before actual consumption, helping the power utility to improve revenue inflows. This, the utility said, is critical for infrastructure maintenance.

Zimbabwe requires about 2,200 megawatts at peak of demand, but is currently only able to generate 1,200MW due to limited capacity.

Deficits are bridged through rolling power cuts and imports.

“We will introduce the cards on May 19 as we continuously seek to improve service,” Eng Chifamba told journalists at an international business conference at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.

The Zesa boss said the national power utility was encountering high incidence of prepaid meter tampering as consumers attempt to evade paying for power or reduce the cost of their consumption.

However, while Zesa sought to improve revenue inflows, defaults on payments for consumed power, discrepancies of post paid system and the tampering has resulted in fall in Zesa’s revenues.

The prepaid meter system has also been rocked by reports that some of the gadgets are defective, allowing consumers to pay very little for long periods and amounts of electricity consumption.