Charcoal traders challenge govt ban
Some Lusaka residents have urged the government to provide alternative energy sources before implementing a ban on charcoal trading.
Ronald Kasuba told Diamond News in an interview that electricity has become more expensive, and load shedding hours have been extended to more than 12 hours per day, but the government is enforcing trick measures to reduce charcoal production without providing alternative energy sources.
Mr. Kasube claims that few people in compounds can afford to buy gas stoves, which have become increasingly expensive, and that gas at filling stations is either unavailable or prohibitively expensive.
Meanwhile, David Muyalali, a charcoal trader, says the government should have given a grace period in the areas where it has imposed a ban rather than just waking up to the news that the government has banned charcoal production.
