Harare water crisis a consequence of opposition invited sanctions
Brian Rungano Temba
The water crisis in Harare City does not only beckon to looming health disasters, but has already ravaged ratepayers off their hard earned money.
Residents in the suburb north of Samora Machel Avenue and locations south of it have now become cousins under the same cloth of a water deprived City.
Even owning a Jojo tank and drilling boreholes has become a relief on the demand reserved for the affluent.
Council also wishes to charge the underground water as well while those with out remain under the yoke of paying for phantom water supply.
Latest developments in Townhouse point towards draconian town bylaws that will grab homes from ratepayers who fail to meet the payments of water they never used.
What possible reason is there to still stay in any settlement when the first decisive factor which is water has become a scarce resource.
Precolonial cities would fall just because of shortage of salt.
The City of Harare has doomed its residents to possible death in the hands of another Cholera and Typhoid pandemic.
This wouldn’t be the first time they did this.
City of Harare have always hid behind facing three major hurdles in providing this service.
The first being the chemicals to purify water with being too expensive.
The second being that reserves and water sources have been drying up and becoming unable to supply a growing city with adequate water.
The third being the old equipment that always breaks down and worn out pipes the leak treated water into the gutters making it impossible to reach its intended consumers.
Opposition activists like Freeman Chari have blamed Chemical manufacturers like Chemmplex for letting the City down by ceasing production.
“You will also remember the prominent role that Chemplex played in Harare’ water crisis that has claimed so many pple thru cholera, dysentery,” reads a tweet by Chari from 0ctober 26, 2021.
However, he ignores that Chemplex is but one of the subsidiaries of Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe (IDCZ) a victim of the Zidera Economic Sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the USA.
On the topic of the legitimacy of these sanctions being termed targeted, Kudzai Mutisi in Tweet from October, 2021 said,
“People in Harare are having a water crisis. in 2009, thousands died because of Cholera. Chemplex, a subsidiary of IDCZ, was the supplier of water treatment chemicals in Zimbabwe.
In 2003, Chemplex was placed under @usembassyharare Sanctions. How did it violate human rights? How?”
Brian Vahombe, another big account on twitter also added to the same debate saying;”It’s Chemplex and Zimphos, these were companies that used make water treatment chemicals in Zimbabwe.
However, these are companies and not individuals.
The question is whose rights did these companies violate? What corruption did they commit for them to be on the sanctions list?”
In October 2021, Harare City’s response was to solicit 300 000 Euros from the Embassy of Netherlands to drill trenches for setting up massive water pipe systems in Hopely.
As if their gross mismanagement of funds is reason enough for them to be begging for anymore cash.
The City still owes Chemplex $380 million for unpaid chemicals.
Harare City Council has for the last 20 years been nose diving into the depths of failure that is now endangering the lives of rate payers.
On August 16, 2022, a cricket enthusiast, Tanuj Singh tweeted that during the Cricket games held in Harare,
“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has asked KL Rahul and Co to save as much water as possible and take quick showers to avoid water wastage because Harare is facing its worst water crisis.”
This is the latest embarrassing moment, but has been a trend of events as even in September of 2019 thousands of then MDC faithful from all over the country converge in Harare for the party’s 20th anniversary celebrations with a crippling water crisis.
A painful reminder of the then main opposition’s shortfalls.
Failure is never instant, it is a cumulative of bad decisions that culminate in a massive and total collapse. Harare water crisis started in the 90s what we now see is the cumulative of progressive Local Authority failure.
In fact, according to Cllr Jacob Mafume as the Mayor of Harare, the current source was meant for Harare only and for around 1.2 million people.
Chitungwiza, Norton, Ruwa, areas around Nyabira were never in the plans.
If not for Kunzvi Dam being built for the catchment inclusive of Harare, the source question of the water crisis would still be a sore in the neck.
Council is in control of Manyame and Chivero Dam that have become overwhelmed by demand.
Harare’s perennial water crisis is far from over, with local authority admitting that the high cost of purifying water, leakages running to 60 percent, as well as illegal connections were stifling efforts to address the issue.
In September of 2019 Government has written off $135 million owed to the ZIMRA by Harare City Council as part of measures to capacitate the local authority to deal with the current water crisis, but they are still failing to give people running water.
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