ZESCO public relations manager Hazel Zulu has assured the nation that the power utility does not anticipate any power outages during the election period, unless a fault occurs.

In an interview, Wednesday, Zulu advised citizens to immediately report any fault which occurred and avoid making assumptions.

“We are actually generating at full capacity and as you are aware we have enough water resources in our national reservoirs. We were given additional water by the Zambezi River Authority which basically translates into the fact that we are able to generate and supply power constantly. You are also aware that we are no longer load shedding so there is no reason for anyone to believe that we could have a power shortage or deficit during elections,” she said.

“We are also confident that should there be any outage for whatsoever reason, we will work on it. And people are advised to report such faults and avoid making assumptions. When we have an instance of a fault, we immediately respond to that and work on it. So we are assuring the nation that we do not anticipate any problems during elections. What we can say is that those customers who might experience a fault resulting in a power outage let them report to us immediately. A fault is not something that is planned, a fault is an unplanned occurrence.”

Zulu further urged people to report anyone seeing loitering around Zesco installation in their area, either to the police or Zesco security.

“In the recent past we have had a number of cases of vandalism but we want to assure our customers that we are very vigilant and working with the Zambia Police to ensure that installations are secured so that there is no disturbance or fault. Let our customers also take responsibility in their areas and when they see anyone loitering around Zesco installation, let them report that immediately either to Zesco security or the Zambia Police,” said Zulu.

“It is unfortunate that people can spread such falsehood because Zesco is a public institution and our mandate is to generate and supply electricity to our customers. We will continue to supply electricity to our customers just like we have been doing. Therefore let’s try to avoid spreading falsehoods. If you have a challenge with the power supply, let them just report. Otherwise, let us have peaceful elections without any disturbance.”