ZRA to hold its 38th Council of Ministers meeting

The Zambezi River Authority Chief Executive, Eng. Munyaradzi Munodawafa has announced that the Authority will be holding its 38th Council of Ministers (COM) meeting.

The meeting will be held on the 17th December, 2020 at the Authority Head Office in Lusaka, Zambia.

The COM, is the supreme governance body of this bi-lateral organisation, and comprises of the Ministers with the Energy and Finance portfolios and the Attorneys General for the Republics of Zambia and Zimbabwe (the Contracting States).

At this Virtual assembly, the COM will receive progress reports on the preparatory activities for the implementation of the 2400 MW Batoka Gorge Hydro-Electric Scheme, the ongoing Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project and approve the Authority’s 2021 Budget, among others.

The COM meeting was preceded by the 36th Zambezi Valley Development Fund (ZVDF) Trustees Meeting which was held on Tuesday 15th December 2020 whereby Trustees received reports from each host District where the riparian communities displaced by Lake Kariba are domiciled, and the Inter-Governmental Committee of Officials (ICO) meeting which was held today, Wednesday, 16th December 2020.

COM meetings are attended by senior government officials from the Ministries of Energy and Finance, the Attorneys General’s offices in Zambia and Zimbabwe and the Executives heading the Electricity Undertakings of the two Contracting States.

The said meetings are country-chaired on an annual rotational basis and this year, the Republic of Zimbabwe is chairing all Authority’s governance structures while the Republic of Zambia will take over the Chairpersonship in 2021.

The COM is thus currently Chaired by Zimbabwe’s Minister of Energy and Power Development, Zhemu Soda, MP while Zambia’s Minister of Energy, Mathew Nkhuwa, MP is the Co-Chairperson.

At the end of the meeting, the COM will issue a Communique to the media regarding the resolutions to be made during this meeting.

The Zambezi River Authority is a bi-national organization bilaterally mandated to harness and manage the waters of the stretch of the Zambezi River that forms a common border between Zambia and Zimbabwe for socio-economic development.

It is also mandated to maintain the Kariba Complex and the development of any future dams or infrastructure on the same stretch of the River.

Zwnews