By 
People’s Alliance for Change (PAC) President, Andyford Banda, has called on Energy Minister Makozo Chikote to implement the open access regime at TAZAMA to stabilise petroleum prices and supply in Zambia.
Banda said the country could not continue making public pronouncements while the reality on the ground remained different.
In an interview with Zambia Monitor, the PAC leader stressed that the TAZAMA pipeline should not benefit a single company but must be accessible to all Oil Marketing Companies in need.
“We challenge the Minister to ensure this is streamlined in line with pronouncements made by the President and Minister of Finance,” he said.
Banda also highlighted gaps in the 2026 energy budget, noting that while the Minister promised 1,500MW of additional power to the grid, it was unclear which projects would deliver this apart from the 300MW Mamba Thermal Plant.
He said the ongoing energy crisis had affected many businesses and individuals.
“While we do understand that ZESCO needs to earn a premium tariff by exporting to cover for their expenses due to low tariffs locally and other contractual obligations as a result of being a member of the Southern Africa Power Pool,” Banda, however, argued that bold measures should have been taken earlier to halt exports to protect the local economy and preserve jobs lost due to the energy crisis.
He described the recent directive to stop exports as politically motivated.
“Now, government thinks it’s important to channel more electricity in the compounds where more voters are so that they can think their government is working going into 2026 and get votes from there. Such kind of politics are long gone,” he claimed.
He noted that political dynamics across Africa were shifting, with young people demanding real solutions rather than rhetoric.
While acknowledging government efforts to streamline the energy sector, Banda stressed that attracting investment and resolving the energy crisis required tariffs that were attractive to investors.
“Now this is a decision that needs to be bold independent of political expediency. On the other hand it’s understood that definitely we must look at the vulnerable people’s capability to afford. However, this mentality is the one that has brought us here,” he said.
Banda criticised the longstanding political culture of promising cheap services without restructuring the economy for sustainability.
“There is no pride in just promising cheap things, and the country should move towards ensuring that the people can afford the goods and services. Government, banks, ZESCO and other Independent Power Producers (IPP) must look into this in order to cushion the current crisis,” he added.
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