Zimbabweans have to brace for a dark night on Friday as the local power utility, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) has revealed that there could be no power. The Zimbabwe Warriors will be taking on the hosts of the Africa Cup of Nations 2019 edition, Egypt in Cairo at 10 PM Zimbabwean time.
In an interview with Zimpapers Television Network, Zesa public relations manager, Fullard Gwasira said they can’t give assurances of keeping the lights on countrywide during the game. He said:
It’s really in our interest and we all want to watch the Warriors playing in Egypt. We are generating (power) relatively well at the moment, but because of age, our power stations are not reliable. While we will do our best to ensure the country will watch the football, I don’t think it’s possible to promise that Zesa will be able to provide (adequate) power.
Zesa recently announced that it had reversed the Stage 2 load-shedding which entails 15-hour power cuts daily. However, some residents say that the reversal is only on paper.
Gwasira said they are planning to speed up the refurbishment of Hwange Power Station’s unit 3 to augment local power generation by 120MW. Negotiations with regional suppliers for additional power are also reported to be underway.
-Agencies
