Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Felix Mhona told The Herald that discussions are underway to find a solution so that another boat can begin plying the same route.
“We have appealed to the people of Kariba to say let’s put our heads together and as government we will play our part but also as private sector they have been doing this business, so they must come up with the solution and we will make sure that in terms of registration it’s easier, in terms of safety, we enhance safety issues and then we have a boat to ply that route,” Mhona said.
Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Marian Chombo appealed for the immediate release of a boat to service the route.
“Even if it’s a smaller boat, because you know it’s only 80km and it links the residents of rural or urban Kariba to their livelihood, which is fishing,” she said.
“You know there are a lot of islands along the lake where they would go and buy or do their fishing. So although we are going to be able to provide them with this network, it’s really not going to resolve a lot of problems,” she said.
The vessel that capsized, the RIDA Mbuya Nehanda ferry, was a government passenger vessel that plied the waters of Lake Kariba on the Zambezi.
It linked Kariba Urban / Peters Point with remote fishing camps and villages along the Lake Kariba shoreline in Nyaminyami – Chalala, Musamba, Kings Camp and Long Island.
In 2025, RIDA reduced fares on the following routes: from US$15 to US$10 from Peters Point to Chalala; from US$12 to US$8 from Peters Point to Musamba; and from US$9 to US$6 from Peters Point to Kings Camp.