BEYOND DUTY: ZESCO SUPPORTS FLOOD AFFECTED AREAS WITH CLEAN, SAFE WATER
…combines efforts and resources with ZNS and DMMU to bring humanitarian relief to Kanyama and Makeni residents
What should have been a routine Saturday for Lisa Namutowe, and her eight-month-pregnant daughter quickly turned into a nightmare. A relentless downpour pounded Ms. Namutowe’s modest corrugated roof home, transforming its three rooms into a waterlogged swamp. As the rain continued unabated, her pregnant daughter went into distress, forcing her to spend the night in the hospital while the rest of the family sought refuge at a nearby filling station garage.
On Saturday, 22 February 2025, Lusaka experienced torrential rainfall, leading to severe flooding that caused significant property damage and displaced several families. Among the hardest hit was the Namutowe family and other residents of Makeni Villa, Kanyama-Kanono, and Kanyama West Clinic.
Beyond the destruction of homes and belongings, another imminent danger loomed—the risk of electrocution. With floodwaters submerging electrical sockets and exposing live wires, residents feared for their safety. The residents were in a conundrum – to continue receiving electricity supply at the risk of hazards, including electrocution, or stay off supply possibly for many days but with safety assured?
“We are asking ZESCO to keep this area off supply until the water recedes. We have nowhere to take our children, and as you know, water and electricity are a dangerous mix. Our home is flooded, and we urgently need assistance from the authorities,” pleaded Ms. Namutowe.
Recognizing the deadly risks posed by water and electricity, and sticking to its core values, ZESCO Limited acted swiftly, disconnecting power supply to the affected areas to safeguard lives and property.
“The first core value of ZESCO is safety and the second is customer focus. To work well with our customers, there's need to first look at the safety of the customer we are supplying electricity. As much as we generate power from water, it is our number one enemy. A combination of water and electricity can cause damage and even fire to the extent of death through electrocution,” emphasized ZESCO’s Safety, Health, Environmental, and Quality Assistant Officer, Kennedy Chewe.
But, as Namutowe and other members of the community would soon find out, safety from electrical hazards brought about other issues, as the forward-thinking step taken by the national power utility to disconnect electricity supply to flood-affected communities to save lives and property resulted in the disruption of water supply to households that depend on electricity to pump water from boreholes for cooking, drinking, sanitation, and other water needs.
Beyond the deadly risks posed by water and electricity, communities in these flood-affected areas were confronted with the possibility of waterborne diseases such as cholera and dysentery due to a lack of clean and safe drinking water. No matter how remote, the thought of these communities—already burdened by displacement and power disconnection—being exposed to health challenges did not sit well with ZESCO. Acting with similar speed and forethought as with the precautionary power disconnection, the power company mooted a collaborative effort to take water relief to Kanyama and Makeni.
Vickson Ncube, the Board Chairperson of ZESCO, acknowledged the need to collaborate with the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit to bring relief to the affected communities.
“The government works through a lot of arms and one of them is DMMU. DMMU is supposed to bring relief and that is food and water. We have engaged DMMU and the Zambia National Service (ZNS) to ensure that bowsers deposit water in reservoirs or containers they can find so that the communities in those areas, despite having no power to pump boreholes, will have water to save lives. Our top priority is to save lives.”
ZESCO’s will to go beyond and above its mandate of providing stable, reliable, and environmentally friendly electricity demonstrated its commitment and investment in its customers and consumers everywhere; easing the work of the DMMU along the way.
ZESCO, working with the DMMU and ZNS, provided fuel for the water bowser trucks to enable the transportation of clean and safe drinking water to the flood-affected areas.
“When we saw the number of days that people were off supply persist, ZESCO engaged ZNS for water bowsers. We divided the bowsers into two fleets. These were working from 07:30 up to 18:00 hours daily, ensuring that the tanks earlier provided by DMMU were filled up so that people have water regardless of not being connected to power," Mr. Chewe added.
Empowering Communities with Timely Information to Address Future Challenges. While the water levels in flood-affected areas have receded, enabling ZESCO to restore electricity supply, another gaping opportunity for community sensitization beckoned for the national power utility.
Through its Corporate Affairs and Safety, Health, Environmental and Quality teams, ZESCO embarked on a five-day comprehensive electrical safety sensitization program targeting Kanyama, Makeni Villa, Garden House, Mbasela Road, John Laing, Kalundu area road along Mumbwa road, and areas along 7070 between Mungwi and Mumbwa.
The electrical safety sensitization program aimed to educate residents on the risks associated with electrical accidents during floods, providing them with practical tips and precautions to prevent electrical accidents. Residents were encouraged to report electrical hazards and concerns to ZESCO.
“The sensitization programs were critical because we had houses with wrong connections submerged in water. That posed a great danger to the community and children. We also used the program to inform the community that the power disruption they had experienced after the floods was not due to a fault but was aimed at protecting their lives and businesses,” Mr. Chewe said.
As the water begins to recede and normal life returns to the flood-affected parts of Makeni and Kanyama, ZESCO has kept its promise of restoring electricity supply under a watchful eye.