Zambia’s Lampposts Are Killing Us Slowly – And No One Is Talking About It

Walk down any street in Lusaka, Ndola, or Kitwe after dark, and you will see them. Rusting lampposts, their bases cracked open like a wound, wires exposed to the rain and the dust. We Zambians have become so used to this neglect that we barely notice it anymore. But make no mistake – these lampposts are a death trap waiting to happen.

Across our towns and cities, municipal lampposts were built to light our way, to keep our children safe from criminals, and to help our drivers see the road. Instead, they have become a silent hazard. Exposed electrical wires, rusted metal coils left behind by illegal banner hangers, and broken inspection covers are turning public infrastructure into a weapon against the very people it was meant to serve.

How Did We Get Here?

Every lamppost has a terminal box at its base. This box holds live high-voltage cables. By design, it should be sealed behind a secure, weatherproof cover. But in Zambia, like in many other countries, these covers are often missing. They are stolen for scrap metal, broken by vandals, or simply never replaced by the council. What remains is a live electrical hazard, open to the elements.

Then there is the problem of illegal advertising. Every election season, every church fundraiser, every funeral announcement – banners are tied to lampposts with iron wire. When the banners are torn down, the wire stays. It rusts. It sharpens. It becomes a blade that can slice through your skin and give you tetanus. Or worse, it can slip into the open terminal box and electrify the entire pole.

Our Neighbours Are Laughing at Us

While countries like Botswana and Tanzania are investing in modern, safe street lighting, Zambia is still using colonial-era poles that are falling apart. Our leaders talk about Vision 2030, but they cannot even secure a lamppost cover. This is the kind of neglect that makes our neighbours shake their heads. We Zambians deserve better. We deserve infrastructure that does not kill us.

The Real Danger: Electrocution in the Rain

During our rainy season, the danger multiplies. Water pools at the base of these lampposts. If the terminal box is open, water conducts electricity straight to the rusted wires. A child walking to school, a mother carrying a baby, a blind person feeling their way along the road – they grab the pole for balance. And they die. This is not a hypothetical. This is a reality that has already claimed lives in other countries, and it is only a matter of time before it happens here.

Who Is to Blame?

The answer is simple: the councils and the foreign-owned advertising companies that profit from our neglect. These companies hang banners without permission, leave behind hazardous waste, and walk away. Meanwhile, our local councils – starved of funds by a central government that prefers to spend on luxury cars and foreign trips – cannot afford to fix the damage. The result is a public health crisis that no one is talking about.

But we Zambians are not helpless. We must demand accountability. We must ask our councillors: why are our lampposts killing us? We must demand that the Ministry of Local Government enforce strict penalties on illegal advertisers. We must insist that our tax money is used to replace missing covers with tamper-proof plates that cannot be stolen. And we must stop accepting this neglect as normal.

What Needs to Be Done

First, every council in Zambia must conduct an immediate audit of all public lampposts. Every missing cover must be replaced. Every rusted wire must be removed. Second, the government must pass a law that holds advertisers and event organisers criminally liable for leaving hazardous materials on public property. Third, we must invest in local manufacturing of durable, tamper-proof lamppost components so that we are not dependent on foreign imports that can be stolen for scrap.

Our ancestors built this nation with their bare hands. They did not build it so that we could die from a lamppost. It is time for Zambians to rise up and demand the infrastructure we deserve. Because a lamppost should light your way, not end your life.