By Chrispin Inambao KATIMA MULILO KATIMA residents had one of the worst festive seasons ever because of power outages. Many people had their electronic appliances ruined due to the constant electricity blackouts that at times lasted several days in a row. This situation also severely impacted on retail and other businesses. Interestingly, the power disruptions were supposed to have been a thing of the past as the Zambian power utility ZESCO undertook a major revamp of the 66 kV line on which the town relies for a cheaper but what is proving a very unreliable source of power. Historically, the town was not linked to the national grid that supplies other parts of Namibia and has been depending on hydropower generated near the Victoria Falls. The power outages occur while people are busy withdrawing money from the ATMs or while fueling their vehicles, and buying groceries and other basics. The businesses worst affected are the barbershops while Eagle Mills, Discount Warehouse, Caprivi Pharmacy, Beares Furnitures, Coimbra OK Foods, Kamunu Wholesalers, Katima Bakery, Furnmart and KM Electronics suffer in silence. During December, many people suffered personal losses in the form of damaged fridges, ruined DVDs, computers and other electronics that are very sensitive to these outages. At times, the town came to a standstill and residents could not do anything as they like other urban communities rely on electricity and other civilized conveniences. Retail outlets and other businesses temporarily closed their operations whenever the electricity interruptions occurred while toilets went unflushed, posing a health hazard. Thieves are also known to take advantage of the blackouts to indulge in criminal activity. “Our biggest problem is it messes up our electronics and outages damage the components of fridges and our bakery machines. When there is no electricity there is no water, and without water we cannot bake bread or mill mealie-meal,” complained Suhail Bhamjee, the manager at Kamunu Wholesalers. At times, the shop becomes flooded because taps are unintentionally left open resulting in water gushing into the shop when the power is finally switched on. He said his business was compelled to buy a generator for back-up. He spent thousands of dollars to repair appliances damaged by power surges. Though December had more power outages, the recent four days have been the worst. Both domestic and industrial consumers prefer not to call NORED the regional electricity distributor because its officials often say the problem is on the Zambian side. Frans Niikondo NORED’s Marketing and Communications Officer was not available for comment yesterday. Kingstone Muwana the owner of KM Electronics at Katima Mulilo says many electronic goods such as fridges, DVDs, TVs, have been damaged particularly in December because they are designed for constant power supply and the sudden electricity surges ruin them. “We thought the power problem will be history in Katima Mulilo with the upgrade of the 66 kV line but that has not been a reality,” said Muwana.