Tendai Ruben Mbofana
Hardly a day goes by – especially as Zimbabwe fast approaches crucial harmonized elections expected in August this year – without the ruling establishment embarking on a crusade in criticizing both the MDC Alliance and CCC for the pathetic situation in our towns and cities.
These failures are most evident in deplorable service provision – more so, as several areas (including my own small town of Redcliff) go for months and years without any reliable potable water supplies into their homes.
This is further exacerbated by frighteningly heavily potholed roads, piling up uncollected refuse, and street lighting that has gone unrepaired for what appears an eternity.
Indeed, I have also never had any kind words for our local authorities for these unpardonable scandalous failures in governance – especially when it pertains to my own Redcliff.
We have watched in utter horror as numerous questionable deals, mostly involving the opaque sale of our land, are carried out – yet, without any discernable benefit for the ordinary residents.
In fact, the revenues accrued from these dubious dealings have been greedily channelled towards expensive luxury vehicles and mobile phones for senior management – with our elected opposition officials benefiting from, and actually defending this rot.
There are also so many unanswered questions pertaining to the state of a tender offer to a company for the construction of a new major road in the town – allegedly paid huge sums of money in advance – yet, not much work has been undertaken in years.
Yet, residents are repeatedly given unending excuses as to why we can not have any water – particularly, in Redcliff low-density suburb of the town – ranging from dysfunctional water pumping facilities, a ballooning unpaid debt to the city of Kwekwe (where we procure our water), and broken down equipment.
One then wonders why the opposition-led local authority would see absolutely nothing amiss in the council spending millions of dollars on top-of-the-range cars (Toyota Fortuners and Hiluxes), as well as high-end smartphones – and who knows what else – instead of addressing the ominous catastrophe facing residents, especially with a cholera outbreak looming.
However, what I find even more unacceptable and disgraceful is the way the ruling ZANU PF party and regime wants to benefit from this mess and chaos.
Now, that is nothing short of disingenuous and deceitful!
It is akin to a pot calling the kettle black!
On what moral high ground is the President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa administration standing on – when they themselves have ruined an entire country, through rampant looting of our national resources – leaving millions of Zimbabweans in sickening destitution and misery?
It is like a serial murderer condemning a shoplifter for being an evil criminal!
Let us remember that one of the main reasons there will never be a permanent solution to the perennial water woes in most towns and cities in Zimbabwe, in the immediate future, is the glaring disgraceful failures of the same ZANU PF government itself.
They never constructed any meaningful water bodies, as well as developing and maintaining colonial infrastructure – which we inherited after independence in 1980 – in order to cope with an exponentially expanding urban population.
This is the same neglect we have witnessed in Zimbabwe’s power generation – whereby, we are still dependent on antiquated equipment either installed by the colonial regime in the 1950s and 60 or immediately after independence over four decades ago – which lacked any genuine maintenance and upgrades over the course of time.
Is there any wonder the country now goes for 15 to 20 hours a day without any electricity – which poses a grave danger to an already struggling economy?
Whenever the ZANU PF regime boasts of having ‘handed over’ well-functioning towns and cities to the opposition – after humiliatingly losing the election to a relatively new MDC at the turn of the millennium – they would not be telling the whole story.
The truth is that the country was merely riding on the momentum of developments made by the colonial establishment.
However, in the absence of any tangible development, upgrading and maintenance of the country’s infrastructure since 1980 – the inevitable was bound to happen sooner rather than later.
It is the same as if I inherited my parents’ properties and then left them in a state of neglect for decades.
Indeed, the first few years may seem as if all was proceeding well, simply due to the momentum of infrastructure that was in tip-top condition when I received it.
Nonetheless, this ‘honeymoon phase’ is sure to end – just as day is certain to be followed by night – as the natural consequences of years of neglect take their toll.
This is what we are also witnessing in our urban areas today.
This morning, I watched in utter amazement, as the ZANU PF parliamentary candidate for Cowdary Park (Bulawayo) Mthuli Ncube – who is also Zimbabwe’s finance minister – boasted of drilling a couple of boreholes in the urban centre.
We have seen the same trend in other towns and cities in the country – such as in Chitungwiza and Epworth (near Harare) – where Mnangagwa proudly commissioned several boreholes.
The question that easily comes to mind is, “If ZANU PF has the answers to our urban water crises, why are they resorting to boreholes, instead of implementing permanent solutions?”
Surely, most of our urban areas had reliable potable water systems installed by the colonial regime many decades ago – so why does even the ruling ZANU PF itself appear to have surrendered to a fate of boreholes being the ‘new normal’ in our towns and cities?
Why does the Mnangagwa administration appear to have resigned itself to our urban areas having transformed into rural areas?
Are we next going to see Blair toilets (pit latrines) making an appearance in our towns and cities – since they do not require flushing?
What else is anyone expected to think, when those in power in the country – who are at the forefront of castigating the opposition for failing in urban areas – are themselves resorting to the drilling of boreholes?
If the ZANU PF central government had a permanent solution, why have they not intervened – as they did with the road rehabilitation program – by restoring water supplies, as we knew them decades ago?
The fact that the finance minister himself (who controls the country’s purse strings), and the head of state (who runs the place) are opting for drilling boreholes is a very worrying sign.
It is clear that even in the event of electing ZANU PF candidates to run our local authorities – the problem of potable water will not be going away any time soon.
As a matter of fact, signs are already pointing to the continued queuing at boreholes for our water requirements, even under ZANU PF urban councils.
This serves as undeniable evidence that the challenges in our towns and cities go far deeper than simply poor governance by the opposition – as much as they can never dodge the bullet, since they are clearly culpable for some of the mess, through their greed, corruption and incompetence.
Nonetheless, the monumental failures of the ZANU PF regime (including their own pre-2000 urban local authorities) – in adequately developing, upgrading and maintaining water bodies and infrastructure – is the main reason why this crisis is not disappearing in the foreseeable future.
This is the same scenario in the country’s electricity generation.
There is a need for massive investment in the water delivery system – requiring the injection of billions of dollars, in order to do what the ZANU PF regime was supposed to have done immediately after independence in 1980.
However, this time it will far more expensive and demanding – as a stitch in time definitely saves nine – and, now there is way more work to be done, at a greater expense.
Yet, considering that the ruling establishment prefers looting our vast mineral wealth and other resources for their own personal aggrandizement – the chances of any meaningful investment in this sector is as unlikely as the sky turning red.
In all likelihood, urban dwellers would not be in this predicament had the ZANU PF government done its work – instead of sleeping at the wheel, as they became comfortable with the exceptional developments made by the colonial regime.
As the situation unfolds in front of our eyes – with ZANU PF drilling boreholes in urban areas as campaign tools – we can forget about any potable water in our homes.
If they genuinely had the answers, this election period would have been the most appropriate time to show these off.
Yet, there is zero!
- Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate, writer, researcher, and social commentator. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700| +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com