The Office of the Public Protector Zambia (OPPZ) successfully intervened in a case involving the delayed restoration of electricity supply to a house in Chipata, Eastern Province, after the affected resident stayed without power for four days.
This follows a complaint of non-restoration of power within 48 hours and a lack of communication from the utility company beyond the 48-hour standard response time set by the Energy Regulation Board (ERB).
The complainant reported that electricity went off on May 4, 2025, and during the four-day outage, there was no communication from ZESCO despite making a report through the toll-free line, and this prompted the complainant to seek help from the Public Protector Zambia.
Following the complaint, the OPPZ conducted an on-the-spot investigation at the ZESCO offices in Chipata on May 7, 2025, to ascertain the situation.
During the investigations, it was discovered that the complaint had been logged as a normal fault, meaning it was not treated as urgent, despite the customer being left in the dark for an extended period.
This confusion was due to a mix-up of complaint reference numbers issued to the complainant, with the first being invalid.
The power utility company, however, assured the OPPZ that the matter would be attended to immediately, and the complainant later confirmed that power was restored to his house just one hour after the OPPZ visited the utility company.
This case highlights a clear act of maladministration marked by poor communication, mismanagement of complaint records, and failure to meet the expected service timelines.
The Office of the Public Protector Zambia remains committed to ensuring that public institutions operate in a transparent, efficient, and accountable manner as mandated by law.
