After plunging most part of the country in total darkness, Zesco has announced it will reduce load-shedding in the next two days.

Most parts of Kabwata, Libala, Woodlands and Chilenje was without power from 09:00 hours to 19:00 hours yesterday. Other areas that had no power include Mtendere, Barlastone and Lilanda.

Chelstone, Avondale and Chainda also experienced persistent power cuts at the weekend as some parts of the country that were badly hit by Zesco's failure to provide a good service.

It was not only Lusaka but places such as Solwezi, Kitwe and Ndola were also experiencing increased load-shedding with people complaining about the situation which is slowly degenerating into a crisis.

Zesco public relations officer Yammie Zimba has said in an interview with Zanis today that load-shedding will drastically reduce as of Wednesday.

Repair works on the Kariba North bank power station are attributed to as the major cause of the current load-shedding crisis.

Late last month, Kariba North bank power station experienced a mechanical failure while Unit five (5) at Kafue Gorge power station was also undergoing repair works after developing a fault.

Zimba said the power utility company was working tirelessly to rectify the faulty machines.

She said Unit Four (4) at Kariba North station, which is being repaired, was expected to resume running this Wednesday.

Zimba urged customers to take responsibility by switching off unnecessary loads such as geysers and lighting when not needed for use.

She attributed the recent intermittent power supply in the country to failure of large generating units at the two power stations.

Zimba explained that the thrust bearing failed on unit 5 at Kafue Gorge while the combined bearing top cover bolts got snapped at unit 4 at Kariba North Bank Power Station thereby leading to the downtime of the two machines.

She added that this subsequently led to a flat deficit of 345 Mega Watts (MW) as opposed to about 70 MW deficit at peak time when all the machines are operating at full capacity.

Zimba has since assured the country that there will be reduced load-shedding now that the machine at Kafue was operational and the other at Kariba will soon be running.

Recently, ZESCO apologised to the nation for the unplanned load shedding of electricity which was a result of mechanic failures at Kafue Gorge and Kariba North Bank respectively.