Day 9 - Church sells borehole water as crisis worsens in Gwanda

"Then the King will say to those on His right hand, "Come, you blessed of My father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from foundation of the world: For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink", Matthew 25 Vs 34-35.

The above teaching is surprisingly being ignored by an Assemblies of God church in Gwanda's Ultra High township which is selling water to residents at a time when the town is facing a worsening water situation.

Bulawayo24 visited the church to investigate claims that the godly institution is charging thirsty residents for it's borehole water.

A 20litre bucket of water costs $0,20 and for Sithabile Nkomo whose family of six requires 200litres daily the figure is too much.

"The church should be there to help rather than profit from people who are suffering, l think the churches are losing it somewhere", said Nkomo who for nine days has been paying $2 daily for the water.

A man manning the borehole referred Bulawayo24 to church elders who could not be reached to explain why they were charging residents for borehole water.

The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) is rationing supplies to the town to push the municipality to honour part of its $5 million.

However High lying townships have not had running water since the impasse began raising fears of an outbreak of waterborne diseases as residents have resorted to using nearby bushes to relieve themselves.

Health experts fear an outbreak of cholera if the situation remains unresolved.

The problem is set to persist with council reportedly broke to pay Zinwa. The local authority has been struggling to pay it's workers.

Government ordered municipalities to write off debts of rate payers in the run up to last years elections in a move that was criticized as a political gimmick.

Critics then argued the move by local government minister Ignatius Chombo was going to paralyze service delivery.