Chief Government Spokesperson Dora Siliya says Zambians are excited to pay a little bit more for power instead of having their businesses completely shut due to load shedding.

Meanwhile, Siliya says the Memorandum of Understanding which government signed with the Democratic Republic of Congo to export 600,000 metric tonnes of maize to that country is not an immediate undertaking.

Responding to questions at her weekly press briefing, Wednesday, Siliya said she was sure business owners were willing to pay a little bit more for electricity in order to have it more hours in a day if they were to maintain productivity.

“The issue of personal emoluments is an administrative issue of government and the best office that is handling this issue is secretary to cabinet because while we are all ministers, we are also employees and we are employed through cabinet. Cabinet should be able to communicate and when it does, I think the whole nation should be able to know. Right now, the discussions of importing power are still going on. I want to believe that Zambians especially business owners are happy to pay a little bit more so that they can make money from their businesses and continue with their livelihoods than to have no power at all and no opportunity to make any income from their businesses,” Siliya said.

And on the maize export to DRC, Siliya said the MoU was a loose agreement meant to provide direction to trade.

“The MoU between Zambia and Congo DRC is to provide some sort of framework in terms of the trade between the two countries. And it is beyond just maize. It is a loose agreement in terms of providing some sort of direction to trade especially with commodities. And the minister was very clear that this is not for now,” said Siliya.