Mwinyi’s electrification drive connects 186 villages

ZANZIBAR: PRESIDENT Hussein Ali Mwinyi’s rural electrification push has connected 186 villages in Unguja and Pemba over the past five years, a leap hailed as life-changing for communities once resigned to life without power.

The Zanzibar Electricity Corporation (ZECO) says 33 per cent of the newly powered villages are in Pemba, many in areas where electricity was once thought impossible.

“This is the result of strong government policies to connect every village within reach of a power line,” said ZECO General Manager Eng Haji Mohammed Haji.

Between July 2024 and June 2025 alone, electricity connections reached communities such as Makadara Mngambo, which had waited over 40 years for power and agricultural villages like Kangagani, where a 600m/- project now supports irrigation and enables year-round vegetable production.

Since 2020, electricity demand in Zanzibar has surged from 30 megawatts to 52, driven by growth in tourism and significant reductions in connection fees.

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The cost of a single-phase connection has dropped from 464,000/- to 200,000/-, while three-phase connections have been reduced from 886,000/- to 402,500/-.

“New connection requests have more than doubled from 15,426 in 2020 to 150,834 over five years with major clients now including hotels and the Mangapwani Port,” said ZECO General Manager, Eng Haji Mohammed Haji.

Residents say the impact has been transformative. “We used to live in darkness, now we can work, study and feel safe at night,” said Ms Shahida Khamis Juma from Unguja.

In Pemba, Juma Shaaban Ali added: “It is a great development we never imagined.”

ZECO confirmed that the rural electrification programme will continue, bringing President Mwinyi’s vision of “power for all” closer to fulfilment.