Parliamentarians who make up the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy have described the $250 million Dema Power Project awarded to President Robert Mugabe’s son in-law’s bother, Derrick Chikore, and his associates, as too costly. The committee is chaired by Zanu PF MP Daniel Shumba.
The committee asked Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) boss Gloria Magombo to explain why her organisation approved the deal that gobbles “too much fuel” and causes Zimbabweans to be charged higher tariffs of $15,45 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) when importing electricity from neighbouring countries is cheaper.
The legislators questioned Zera on why the Dema project was being allowed to import 25 million litres of fuel duty-free when they were only supplying 100 megawatts, raising suspicion that the other half of the fuel, 12,5 million litres, could be finding its way to the black market. Howevr Magombo dismissed the claim and said they are importing 12, 5 million litres since they are generating 100 megawatts instead on 200. Sakunda chief operations officer Mberikwazvo Chitambo appeared before the committee, but could not give much evidence, as he came unprepared.
More: NewsDay
Back to top