Opinion / Columnist
Mugabe travels so many km only to lie, Zimbabwe is Not committed to implementing SDs
13 Jun 2017 at 10:53hrs | Views
Lake Chivero Spillway, this water body is Harare's main water supply
After oppressing the Zimbabwean people and having literally shred their livelihood by ill intending policies, the self imposing dictator has again flown to United Nations for a Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable development. Goal 14 reads: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
In Zimbabwe Mugabe's government has presided over the unchecked dilapidation and collapse of every aspect of environment and economy. His central government's meddling with local authorities and city governments has weakened the latter to the point of zero performance. As a result city governments have not been able to manage their sewage effluents and garbage disposal to the point that most towns water sources are heavily polluted. Take for example Lake Chivero which is now heavily polluted with raw sewage from Harare and Chitungwiza.
Research carried by the University of Zimbabwe on the levels of Lake Chivero pollution has revealed that the lake and all its subsidiary rivers are subject to stress from heavy pollution of metals, pesticides and raw sewage which require a huge financial commitment to rehabilitate the lake for the benefit of water users.
Serious cases of pollution have been detected from water samples taken from the Manyame and Hunyani rivers as well as Lake Chivero. According to research, Lake Chivero is highly eutrophic and levels of nutrients in the water are now very high because of raw effluent, domestic and industrial waste being discharged into it, resulting in blue-green algae blooms and water hyacinth. To date the overall levels of weed growth nutrients such as phosphates, nitrates, potassium and sewage effluent are no longer still within acceptable limits according to World Health Organisation (WHO) standards for drinking water and Zimbabwe waste effluent standards. As a result of poor garbage disposal, most waste material, diapers and sanitary wear are being washed to the lake in runoff water. This poses a serious health hazard and the Lake Chivero's continued capacity to sustain lives and livelihoods.
There is also uncontrolled Population growth in the Lake's urban watershed and this has outstripped the city's service capacity. Poor maintenance of infrastructure has greatly compromised the urban settlement's ability manage their waste waters. Growth of high undeveloped density satellite settlements, with weak revenue bases poses funding problems for services provision and development. Most of these settlements have been under the auspices by Zanu pf party with a large number of these settlements claiming to have been endorsed by the Zimbabwean first Lady, Dr Amai Grace Mugabe in her win the people's affection tours. So city councils gave been afraid to deal with these politically associated and implicating settlements according to council by-laws. Most of these settlements have also been on wetlands. In all cities and towns around \Zimbabwe, there are now settlements on river banks as opposed to the 30m away from the river regulation. The situation is the same in Gweru and Mkoba Rivers. These water bodies and their downstream are heavily contaminated by raw sewage being discharged into them throughout the past decade. Most resident of Gweru have no water and have resorted to digging shallow wells for drinking water.
Rivers around the country have also been contaminated with mercury and heavy metals from uncontrolled gold panning around the provinces. This has led also to siltation of dams compounded by rapid deforestation with no trees replacement. Robert Mugabe's speech at the conference only indicated that Zimbabwe is committed to SDGs implementation but he did not give examples of what his government has done to date in compliance with the requirement of Goal 14. It seems President Mugabe only attended the conference in bid and as platform to defend his corrupt government's for failure to preserve the purity of the water bodies in Zimbabwe. This is only what many managed to gather as the reason President Mugabe flew all the way to New York, it was only to say, and I quote part of his speech, "I wish to remind some partners that while they may exclude my country from some financial and technical assistance facilities because of the illegal sanctions they maintain against us, the effects of climate change are not discriminatory. My country is committed to implementing the SDGs and will do so within the means available to it."
He also lied hypocritically that he believes that it is in the best interest of all of us that we prioritise life above everything else. We don't see preservation of water bodies in Zimbabwe being prioritised, but are actually being neglected. So President Robert Gabriel Mugabe is misrepresenting our nation just the same when he said Zimbabwe is the second best developed nation in Africa. This is outrageous. He is actually behaving like an angel of Satan, contrary to what Chipanga referred him to.
Robert Mugabe should be real to himself and understand that it is not possible for most governments to do business as usual with his unaccountable and his semi-illegitimate government that shuns fair play in elections and persecute political opponents. His government has not been able to deal with, but has actually encouraged corruption of senior government officials, as long as they don't oppose his bid to be to continue to rule Zimbabwe. So rather than mention sanctions, Mugabe has to truthfully deal with issues of governance, corruption, Human rights abuses, and 'electoral, media and security reforms'. Mugabe's government cannot continue with human rights abuse whilst at same time expecting to win international community's approval and support that comes with it. Mugabe's government has thrived on nothing other than lies and misrepresentation. The state of water bodies in Zimbabwe does not warrant Robert Mugabe's lecture to the SDG4s conference participants, let alone his presence anywhere near there.
In Zimbabwe Mugabe's government has presided over the unchecked dilapidation and collapse of every aspect of environment and economy. His central government's meddling with local authorities and city governments has weakened the latter to the point of zero performance. As a result city governments have not been able to manage their sewage effluents and garbage disposal to the point that most towns water sources are heavily polluted. Take for example Lake Chivero which is now heavily polluted with raw sewage from Harare and Chitungwiza.
Research carried by the University of Zimbabwe on the levels of Lake Chivero pollution has revealed that the lake and all its subsidiary rivers are subject to stress from heavy pollution of metals, pesticides and raw sewage which require a huge financial commitment to rehabilitate the lake for the benefit of water users.
Serious cases of pollution have been detected from water samples taken from the Manyame and Hunyani rivers as well as Lake Chivero. According to research, Lake Chivero is highly eutrophic and levels of nutrients in the water are now very high because of raw effluent, domestic and industrial waste being discharged into it, resulting in blue-green algae blooms and water hyacinth. To date the overall levels of weed growth nutrients such as phosphates, nitrates, potassium and sewage effluent are no longer still within acceptable limits according to World Health Organisation (WHO) standards for drinking water and Zimbabwe waste effluent standards. As a result of poor garbage disposal, most waste material, diapers and sanitary wear are being washed to the lake in runoff water. This poses a serious health hazard and the Lake Chivero's continued capacity to sustain lives and livelihoods.
There is also uncontrolled Population growth in the Lake's urban watershed and this has outstripped the city's service capacity. Poor maintenance of infrastructure has greatly compromised the urban settlement's ability manage their waste waters. Growth of high undeveloped density satellite settlements, with weak revenue bases poses funding problems for services provision and development. Most of these settlements have been under the auspices by Zanu pf party with a large number of these settlements claiming to have been endorsed by the Zimbabwean first Lady, Dr Amai Grace Mugabe in her win the people's affection tours. So city councils gave been afraid to deal with these politically associated and implicating settlements according to council by-laws. Most of these settlements have also been on wetlands. In all cities and towns around \Zimbabwe, there are now settlements on river banks as opposed to the 30m away from the river regulation. The situation is the same in Gweru and Mkoba Rivers. These water bodies and their downstream are heavily contaminated by raw sewage being discharged into them throughout the past decade. Most resident of Gweru have no water and have resorted to digging shallow wells for drinking water.
Rivers around the country have also been contaminated with mercury and heavy metals from uncontrolled gold panning around the provinces. This has led also to siltation of dams compounded by rapid deforestation with no trees replacement. Robert Mugabe's speech at the conference only indicated that Zimbabwe is committed to SDGs implementation but he did not give examples of what his government has done to date in compliance with the requirement of Goal 14. It seems President Mugabe only attended the conference in bid and as platform to defend his corrupt government's for failure to preserve the purity of the water bodies in Zimbabwe. This is only what many managed to gather as the reason President Mugabe flew all the way to New York, it was only to say, and I quote part of his speech, "I wish to remind some partners that while they may exclude my country from some financial and technical assistance facilities because of the illegal sanctions they maintain against us, the effects of climate change are not discriminatory. My country is committed to implementing the SDGs and will do so within the means available to it."
He also lied hypocritically that he believes that it is in the best interest of all of us that we prioritise life above everything else. We don't see preservation of water bodies in Zimbabwe being prioritised, but are actually being neglected. So President Robert Gabriel Mugabe is misrepresenting our nation just the same when he said Zimbabwe is the second best developed nation in Africa. This is outrageous. He is actually behaving like an angel of Satan, contrary to what Chipanga referred him to.
Robert Mugabe should be real to himself and understand that it is not possible for most governments to do business as usual with his unaccountable and his semi-illegitimate government that shuns fair play in elections and persecute political opponents. His government has not been able to deal with, but has actually encouraged corruption of senior government officials, as long as they don't oppose his bid to be to continue to rule Zimbabwe. So rather than mention sanctions, Mugabe has to truthfully deal with issues of governance, corruption, Human rights abuses, and 'electoral, media and security reforms'. Mugabe's government cannot continue with human rights abuse whilst at same time expecting to win international community's approval and support that comes with it. Mugabe's government has thrived on nothing other than lies and misrepresentation. The state of water bodies in Zimbabwe does not warrant Robert Mugabe's lecture to the SDG4s conference participants, let alone his presence anywhere near there.
Source - Zanda Shumba
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