Wicknell Chivayo Said To Have Bought Shoes & Pants Using Energy Funds

Zimbabweans are in the dark following the continuous loadshedding recording the state’s worst blackouts in decades.

Households have been left without power for 16 hours per day, as the state is being advised to scramble to restore power.

In his tweet, socialite Elvis Mugari highlighted a confluent of factors owing to the outrage, in a throwback series of events, within which the ridler mentioned the government contractor Wicknell Chivayo’s contribution.

“Egyptian President El-Sisi recently launched one of the world’s largest solar farm in the desert of Aswan.

The $4bn project provides electricity to 14M  Egyptians. In Zim the contractor of the largest solar park bought 323 pairs of shoes & 77 pairs of oversized underwear,” he said.

On a separate note in his defence , Chivayo has taken to social media to vent his side of the story, at the same time proposing what can be done to solve the power crisis.

Here is what the controversial  businessman had to say:

“I discovered today that when it comes to my sense of humor indeed I’M A LEGEND. This video I posted during COVID LOCKDOWN almost 3 years ago is trending worldwide like I posted it this morning. I still stand by its contents as still applicable now. This is a matter before the courts and I will not comment any further save to say I promise you we WILL SOON HARNESS 100 MW OF CLEAN ENERGY in GWANDA against all odds…Don’t blame WICKNELL and his designer shoes or his opulent lifestyle he has lived since he was 18. Leave the innocent MINISTER of Energy alone and instead acknowledge the frantic efforts by the ZESA GROUP CEO and the MD of ZPC under difficult financial conditions then BLAME no one but YOURSELF THE CONSUMER. Unoda ku juicer hako magetsi ne 10 dollars equivalent in ECO CASH which then last you one full Month. Such LUXURY does not exist anywhere else in the REGION and world over…Since it has now become apparent that come 2023 this Administration is not going anywhere regai titaure hedu isu vana mazvikokota vana muzvina business tine ruzivo imi moterera.

In my view to alleviate the acute power deficit the imminent SOLUTIONS are very simple and i articulate them below ;

1. *TARIFF CURRENCY – ELECTRICITY MUST BE SOLD IN USD*…The current tariff structure is not only sub-economic but inevitably makes any power generation entity destined to fail. Electricity generation must be conducted on a COMMERCIAL BASIS and should be able to sustain itself. The USD model has been applied to the FUEL INDUSTRY and queues disappeared overnight. It is high time the ENERGY INDUSTRY is redeemed from the inherent challenges involved with local currency convertibility in order to finance maintenance spared and operations.To achieve VISION 2030 as a country that has suffered brutal economic sanctions for 2 decades we have to live through austerity measures.

2. *NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY POLICY*-  The world is going GREEN and taking from the recently held COP27 Summit in Egypt, MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES will no longer finance energy projects which are harmful to the planet. The Renewable Energy Policy of 2019 in Zimbabwe offers an unattractive REFIT (Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff) of around USc 0.06 per KwH, yet a minimum of USc0.08 allows a producer of power to have a return on investment. This is the standard in Sub-Saharan Africa.

3. *LICENSE FEES – ZERA* must consider reviewing its license fees for one to obtain a GENERATION LICENSE. They are the highest in SADC region and consequently deter investment in the energy sector.

4. *DUTY EXEMPTION* –  Although there is a cap in terms of the values and quantities , there must be an unconditional removal of all duties and taxes in relation to renewable energy infrastructure. All solar products and infrastructure at any scale must not attract customs duty or any tax on importation as this increases the cost of power. The CHEAPER it is to procure solar products, the HIGHER the number of consumers who will eventually go off-grid, thus allowing the saved power to be utilized by essential sectors such as industry and commerce.

I REST MY CASE### HAKUNA BUTSU DZINOITA 5 MILLION DOLLARS### TSVAGAI DZIMWE NYAYA DZEKU NWISA MASESE###.”