Zesa pays US$19K to electrocuted boy 

Source: Zesa pays US$19K to electrocuted boy –Newsday Zimbabwe

ZESA Holdings has forked out more than US$19 000 as compensation to a 13-year-old boy who sustained severe burns after being electrocuted by naked power cables five years ago.

The minor, from Penhalonga in Manicaland province, sustained severe injuries on his right upper limbs following his electrocution in April 2019.

Doctors estimated his impairment percentage at 20%.

The parents of the child were assisted by Kevin Kabaya and Tatenda Sigauke of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), who on September 16,  2022, wrote to the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), a subsidiary of Zesa Holdings, demanding compensation amounting to more than US$19 000 for damage suffered by their son.

ZLHR reported that the child was electrocuted by some exposed electricity cables, which were left hanging dangerously low and within reach of people at his parents’ residence.

Recently, ZETDC through its insurers Cell Insurance, advised and shared proof of a payment transaction report to Kabaya and Sigauke showing that it had deposited ZWL$92 679 793 which is equivalent to US$19 658 into the bank account of the minor child’s parents after it accepted the child’s claim and liability for the damages.

“ZLHR intervened in assisting the minor child as part of its anti-impunity strategies to foster accountability at the country’s supplier of electricity and to deter and discourage acts of human rights violations by State-run institutions,” the lawyers said.