The newly-appointed Minister for Energy and Power Development, Fortune Chasi said that his Ministry will seek to recover the $1.2 billion owed the power utility, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) by its customers.
Responding to a question by Zimbabwe Independent political reporter Nyasha Chingono on how he is looking to recover the funds, Chasi said:
There is a debt of US$1,2 billion which is long-standing and arises from expenditure by us as government. We would like to come up with a structure that enables the recovery of that money by Zesa.
I also understand that local authorities owe significant amounts and other people. I have asked for an analysis of that debt by name, age and amount so that we can take deliberate action on that debt.
I need to emphasise that no entity in the country should expect to get power from Zesa and not pay for it.
I would like to know the extent of the indebtedness of government departments with respect to that debt. I would also like to know the extent of indebtedness to local authorities.
When I’m fully briefed, I intend to engage the Ministry of Finance so that we come up with an agreement on that debt.
This is so that we sanitise the balance sheet of Zesa and bring money to Zesa that they can use on projects.
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