Govt ministers and senior civil servants refusing to pay their water bills

THE Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) has been prejudiced of about US$90 million in unpaid water bills with a huge chunk of it owed by government chefs who use the water to irrigate their farms.

The FinGaz on Friday revealed that several government ministers and senior civil servants, who are beneficiaries of the controversial land reforms, are refusing to pay their water bills, some dating back to the Zimbabwe dollar era, forcing ZINWA to rely on the taxpayer for subsidies.

The Ministry of Water Resources Development and Management, the parent ministry to ZINWA, has since compiled a long list of debtors from around the country as it moves to recover the debts and finance operations presently hamstrung by cash flow problems at the national water authority.

The total amount owed by government fat cats through irrigation is US$25 million, while domestic consumers in small towns and business centres who get water direct from ZINWA owe US$20 million. Councils and various government departments owe US$18 million and US$16,6 million respectively.

Ministry officials were this week reluctant to release the list of debtors, only revealing that it included high-ranking Cabinet ministers, politicians and top civil servants.

Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, the Minister of Water Resources Development and Management, told The Financial Gazette this week that there was a deep-rooted culture of relying on freebies, which he said was now rampant in the country.

"There is a culture in Zimbabwe of not wanting to pay for services. People must pay for water," said Nkomo. "Some of my colleagues in government could be owners of farms and use water for irrigation (and yet they still refuse to pay their bills)."

ZINWA's operations have been thrown into a lurch as a result. The authority is struggling to rehabilitate and maintain dams under its jurisdiction because of inadequate revenue.

An official in ZINWA's accounts department confirmed that of the US$90 million owed to ZINWA, a huge chunk of the money was from irrigation.

The government's controversial land reform programme launched in 2000 brought to the fore the corruption in the rank and file of the political elite. Government officials ignored the ZANU-PF policy of "one man, one farm", with some acquiring several farms for themselves and their children.

During the land seizures, most prime farms were taken by government chefs. The properties had state-of-the-art irrigation facilities. It is these farms that have now returned to haunt the chefs with staggering water bills.

What has bothered ZINWA officials most is the seeming reluctance by the political elite to pay as some bills have never been paid at all.

Further to that, the big chefs use their influence to get reconnected, in the event that water supplies would have been cut for non-payment.

In recent weeks, government bigwigs were exposed for not paying power utility, ZESA with bills ranging from US$20 000 to US$140 000.

The shocking revelations implicated notable figures such as Manicaland governor, Christopher Mushohwe, and Energy and Power Development secretary, Justin Mupamhanga.

Mupamhanga's reluctance to pay his electricity bill has raised eyebrows since he is the secretary of ZESA's parent ministry.

Energy and Power Development Minister, Elton Mangoma, who exposed the political bigwigs for refusing to pay their ZESA bills won plaudits from the majority of Zimbabweans who have been experiencing frequent power cuts and disconnections for not paying as little as US$20 in electricity bills.