NDC secretary general Mwenya Musenge says the NDC government will construct fuel depots in all districts and ensure that the country has adequate stocks so that it is protected from price changes of crude oil on the international market.

And Musenge says the NDC government will recapitalize Ndola-based Indeni Petroleum Refinery with new technology to ensure that 80 per cent of petroleum products consumed in Zambia are produced by the company.

Meanwhile, Musenge has pledged that an NDC government will cut nepotism, cadres and over-employment of staff at Zesco Limited to ensure an efficient administration.

In NDC’s weekly news letter to News Diggers! Musenge observed that Zambia had the highest cost of fuel and other petroleum products in the SADC region.

He added that the taxation system in Zambia also happened to remain the highest.

“Zambia has the uppermost cost of fuel and other petroleum products in the mainland Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc, which result from inadequacy and costly financing arrangement. The taxation system in Zambia also happens to remain the highest within the mainland SADC member states. Moreover, government levies, duties, and other taxes have been higher in Zambia in comparison with other countries,” Musenge noted.

He observed that Zambia faced a number of difficulties like poor feed stock cargo formulation, lack of adequate national reserves and underdeveloped infrastructure, among other things.

“Zambia is also faced with a number of difficulties which include: poor feed stock cargo formulation, lack of adequate national reserves, inefficient feed stock processing and underdeveloped infrastructure meant for importation of finished products. Research shows that crude oil prices make up 71 per cent of the price of fuel and as such, makes it a major influencer of fuel prices since the remaining 29 per cent comes from distribution, refining, and taxes, which happen to be more stable,” he observed.

Musenge stated that once elected into office, the NDC would put in place a transparent procurement system for crude oil and comingled petroleum, which would reduce the supply chain costs by cutting out middlemen.

He pledged that the NDC would rationalize the tax regime for both crude and finished products by lowering them, adding that an NDC government would construct fuel depots in all districts around the country.

“The NDC when elected will: build suitable national reserves that can last for eight months by constructing fuel depots in all the districts of Zambia and ensure that every part of the country has adequate fuel reverses. This will be done so that our country is safeguarded from being affected by price changes of crude oil on the international market and fluctuations in the currency market and make them uniform,” he explained.

And Musenge stated that the NDC government would further recapitalize Indeni Refinery with new technology to ensure that 80 per cent of petroleum products consumed in Zambia were made by the company.

“Indeni Refinery has been riddled with inefficient feed stock processing capacity as such, we will recapitalize it with new technology to ensure that 80 per cent of petroleum products consumed in the country are made by Indeni. This will retain jobs and value addition within the country. We also build another refinery plant in Mongu, Western Province. We will implement dynamic hedging strategies to mitigate risk in price movements of crude oil and changes on the currency market such as future buying,” he added.

Meanwhile, Musenge has pledged that an NDC government will cut nepotism, cadres and over-employment of staff at Zesco Limited to ensure an efficient administration.

“For a long time, Zambia has largely depended on hydroelectricity, which is dependent-season. As NDC, we will undertake serious reforms in the energy sector to ensure that: (I) There is an increase in the affordability of power in the urban and rural areas at the same time ensuring competitiveness on the regional market. (ii) We will un-bundle Zesco into generation, transmission and distribution to ensure effectiveness in service delivery and enable private sector participation. (iii) We will cut nepotism, cadres and over-employment of staff at Zesco to ensure an efficient administration. (iv) Zambia is blessed with many rivers in the rural areas, and as such, we will promote rural electrification by damming these rivers in strategic positions to provide hydro-electric power,” stated Musenge, who also added that the NDC would formulate a renewable energy policy that would waver off company tax and bureaucracy for companies that generate and distribute renewable sources of energy in Zambia, among others.