Hertta-Maria Amutenja
The impending electricity disconnections for defaulting customers of the Northern Electricity Distributor (Nored) could have negative implications for the supply chain.
Kavango West Governor Bonifatius Wakudumo said this after Nored announced that it will commence with electricity disconnections from 17 June of customers whose accounts have been in arrears for 30 days and longer.
Wakudumo highlighted the potential impacts on critical institutions and the supply chain.
“At a household level, the majority are prepaid, so maybe those that are still postpaid might be affected. I recently visited local green schemes, and they have an issue with the notice. All my green schemes have winter crops in production and need water for their irrigation systems which work with electricity. It affects a lot of sensitive and critical institutions if they are cut off from electricity,” he said.
In a notice to stakeholders and customers, Nored urged customers to settle their overdue accounts in full or make acceptable payment arrangements with NORED by the due date to avoid inconvenience.
Wakudumo emphasised the importance of timely payment of electricity bills to ensure the continued supply and distribution of electricity.
“Non-payment of accounts makes it difficult for NORED to fulfil its obligation of providing uninterrupted electricity services,” read the notice.
Wakudumo further explained that the issue extends beyond Nored.
“Nored is just an electricity distributor, and they get electricity from their supplier, NamPower. If they can’t pay their supplier because of clients defaulting, then they can’t supply.”
Despite the notice, uncertainty remains about which customers will be affected.
Wakudumo encouraged affected clients to engage with Nored to arrange payment of their outstanding fees and adhere to the agreements.
“For now, we are busy verifying and updating the numbers of customers that are in arrears plus the amount of money. We have an agreement with NamPower to settle our outstanding amounts,” said Simon Lukas, Nored spokesperson.
When NamPower attempted to disconnect non-paying clients of which Nored was the highest defaulter last year, the government stopped the exercise.
The decision followed a meeting with the minister of finance and public enterprises, Iipumbu Shiimi where the minister outlined the government’s programme aimed at assisting NamPower in collecting outstanding payments.
The government’s programme is yet to be announced.
