By MOFFAT CHAZINGWA –

CHAVUMA District in North-Western Province has been plunged into total darkness following the breakdown of a thermo generator used to light the area about a week ago.
By yesterday the district had had no electricity for six consecutive days.
The desperate situation has raised concerns for the residents as water supply has also been affected.
Chavuma District Commissioner Lawrence Kayumba said in an interview yesterday that the prolonged power outage had had a devastating effect on Chavuma residents who had also lost foodstuffs stored in fridges.
“This is now our sixth day without power and tap water in the district,” Mr Kayumba said.
He said the generator started giving problems two weeks ago when it would go on and off before it finally broke down last week on Wednesday.
Mr Kayumba said the generator was sent to Ndola for repair but could not be fixed because of a lack of spare parts.
“We tried to reason with our Zambezi counterparts for them to assist us with an old gen-set since the district now has a new one, but the residents protested by blocking the road to prevent the machine from leaving the district,” Mr Kayumba said.
He said the power outage tool a huge toll on the residents who had seen all their fresh foods such as meat and fish stored in freezers go bad.
Mr Kayumba said the residents were now made to draw water for domestic use from the flooded and crocodile-infested Zambezi River.
“Zambezi at the moment is the only source of water for domestic use but it is posing serious danger to people going there who risk either drowning or being killed by crocodiles, which are now found on the river banks,” Mr Kayumba said.
Zesco spokesperson Henry Kapata said the power utility was working round the clock to restore power to Chavuma.
Mr Kapata said an alternative generator had been found and was being transported to the district.