Opinion / Columnist
Cholera crisis looms in Harare
03 Sep 2020 at 06:16hrs | Views
IMAGINE a crisis of COVID-19 and cholera in Zimbabwe, that is the crisis that the city is staring at. Why is it that Harare City Council cannot provide its residents with clean water?
Water provision is a basic right and should be provided to all citizens by our municipalities.
In Harare province, shortage of water is now so common with no solution in sight.
The truth is Harare City Council has failed to provide its citizens with water and this is now a state of emergency.
The northern suburbs have not had water for over 20 years due to a broken valve worth only US$50 000.
Chitungwiza has been dry for six months now. Harare west which used to receive uninterrupted supplies, will soon run dry. The city is staring at a crisis. Imagine a city riddled with a combination of COVID-19 and cholera, with clean water being the commodity that is essential for hygiene because we use it to clean our hands on a regular basis.
Our Constitution prescribes that national and provincial governments have the legislative and executive authority to see to municipalities' effective execution of their functions. In Harare, the leadership is not executing its duty on the provision of water to its citizens. The Water Act Chapter 20:20 1996 likewise recognises that it is the duty of all arms of government:
- to ensure that water services are provided in a manner that is efficient, equitable and sustainable; and
- to strive to provide such services for subsistence and sustainable economic activity.
It states that although municipalities have the authority to administer water services, all spheres of government have a duty, within the limits of physical and financial feasibility, to work towards this objective. This is a state of emergency that requires all our stakeholders to find a solution to this impending national crisis which has prevailed for a very long time.
Hararians should be drinking clean water and washing their hands with clean water to prevent a national crisis.
Water provision is a basic right and should be provided to all citizens by our municipalities.
In Harare province, shortage of water is now so common with no solution in sight.
The truth is Harare City Council has failed to provide its citizens with water and this is now a state of emergency.
The northern suburbs have not had water for over 20 years due to a broken valve worth only US$50 000.
Chitungwiza has been dry for six months now. Harare west which used to receive uninterrupted supplies, will soon run dry. The city is staring at a crisis. Imagine a city riddled with a combination of COVID-19 and cholera, with clean water being the commodity that is essential for hygiene because we use it to clean our hands on a regular basis.
Our Constitution prescribes that national and provincial governments have the legislative and executive authority to see to municipalities' effective execution of their functions. In Harare, the leadership is not executing its duty on the provision of water to its citizens. The Water Act Chapter 20:20 1996 likewise recognises that it is the duty of all arms of government:
- to ensure that water services are provided in a manner that is efficient, equitable and sustainable; and
- to strive to provide such services for subsistence and sustainable economic activity.
It states that although municipalities have the authority to administer water services, all spheres of government have a duty, within the limits of physical and financial feasibility, to work towards this objective. This is a state of emergency that requires all our stakeholders to find a solution to this impending national crisis which has prevailed for a very long time.
Hararians should be drinking clean water and washing their hands with clean water to prevent a national crisis.
Source - newsday
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