BINGA town and surrounding rural areas are facing serious water shortages owing to failure by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) to upgrade the district’s water system to meet rising demand, council officials have said.
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Newly-elected Binga District Council chairperson Mukombwe Dube said water shortages besetting the area that lies adjacent to the mighty Zambezi River were a clear sign of incompetence on the part of Zinwa.
Dube said the Tonga communities in rural areas were being forced to travel more than 10km to fetch water, yet the commodity could easily be tapped from the Zambezi with proper planning.
“Binga is just a stone’s throw away from the Zambezi River and it really boggles the mind why the Tonga face water shortages,” he said. “Zinwa is failing to upgrade the old water pipes that were laid by the (former Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian) Smith regime in order to meet rising demand.
“The current water infrastructure cannot meet demand and that should be addressed.”
Zinwa deputy national communications officer Tsungirai Shoriwa declined to comment and referred Southern Eye to Fortune Musoni, the Gwayi catchment area manager, who was not reachable.
Dube said the colonial regime had promised the people of Binga that they would be guaranteed access to water after they were relocated from areas near Zambezi.
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“During the Smith regime, the promise when they moved the Tonga people from the shores of the river to pave way for the construction of the Kariba Dam was that water would follow them,” he said.
“The water only followed people to only about 25km, a situation that is to blame for the current water problems.
“The history of the Tonga people is that they lived along the shores of the river.
“The government always talks about the Zambezi Water Project to solve Bulawayo’s water problems forgetting the Tonga who also need the water and in fact, are just a stone’s throw away from that water.”
Since Zinwa takeover of water distribution in 2007, even government arms such as the Comptroller and Auditor-General have said the authority had no capacity to provide clean water.
An audit, which was presented to the Public Accounts Parliamentary Portfolio Committee last year, said Zinwa was failing to provide undisrupted water of the right quality to its customers in small towns, growth points and institutions because of lack of an operational plan as well as failure to maintain plant and equipment and poor record-keeping.
