Regina Pasipanodya
Armed with nothing but a phone, Liona Moyo (17) from Ruwa in Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe navigates through the night finding her way to a borehole where she will join many other people looking for water.
For Ruwa residents, waking up at odd hours has become their daily routine as this is the only time that they can get safe and clean water from community boreholes.
“Our community borehole uses electricity to pump water, so we have to wait until around 10pm or 11pm for electricity to be restored before getting water. We have been facing longer hours of load shedding over the past months,” she said.
Ruwa has for years experienced serious water supply challenges that have seen residents resorting to unprotected sources of water
The situation has also affected Liona’s studies.
“Being a student, I am struggling to concentrate on my studies since I fail to get enough sleep as I will be queuing for water up until midnight at a local borehole,” she said.
Liona’s story is a testament that the community has shown resilience after struggling to access clean water for years.
Amai Marwa (46) also of Ruwa said as the residents queue for water at odd hours, they are at risk of being robbed.
“It is a painful thought that due to the water crisis in our area, our families are now at risk of contracting cholera,” said Marwa.
Water crisis
A recent report by Human Rights Watch says residents of Zimbabwe including those in the capital city of Harare face a potable water crisis. The situation is dire. More than half of the 4.5 million people in Greater Harare have no access to clean water and are at the mercy of water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid.
This challenge has been attributed to the city’s obsolete water infrastructure, ballooning population, severe droughts, pervasive government corruption as well as mismanagement.
Devolution agenda on development
However, through the devolution agenda facility that was introduced in 2013, the central government has been making annual cash transfers to the lower tiers of government to implement development projects in their respective areas.
The key pillars of electricity, education, water and sanitation, transport, health, and public amenities, the responsibility were given to local councils as constituted by Section 264 (1) (e, f) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act 2013.
Devolution gave powers of local governance to the people and enhanced participation in making decisions affecting them as well as promoting democratic, effective, transparent, accountable, and coherent government in Zimbabwe as a whole.
Ruwa Local Council is one of the local municipalities that receives the devolution funds.
Allocations were made to address the water crisis in Ruwa but the local authority swindled the funds for political gains.
According to the Auditor General’s Report (AGR), since 2019-2021, Ruwa Local Board received ZW$4 940 000, ZW$8 236 000, ZW$35 482 315 respectively, which is a total of ZW$48 658 315 development funds for three years.
Poor monitoring of state funds
However, due to inadequate monitoring by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works (MLGPW), the audit noted that procurement for devolution-funded projects was in some instances not being done by procurement regulations.
For example, the inspections conducted by the AG on some projects that were being implemented by RLB, Projects such as Rujeko Primary School and Damofalls Clinic were not budgeted for and other projects such as the water plant at Greenskyes Dam that was allocated a budget of ZW$5 688 859, about ZW$3 170 000 of that money was diverted towards other projects.
“Part of the devolution funds for the water plant was diverted towards the construction of a perimeter fence and floor tiling and the expenditure for the fence and tiling was not budgeted for under the devolution funds,” the report says..
Rujeko Primary School is also another project that was initiated by the community but ended up using devolution funds.
The funds were supposed to be expended on sealing of joints, replacement of nozzles and installation of VSDs on existing raw water pump to regulate output.
At the time of the audit on November 15, 2021, the water plant and the reactors were between 0% and 5% complete.
The audit established that although the water plant was financed through devolution funds to address the water crisis in Ruwa, the local authority diverted the funds for political gains.
This was supported by the management’s response. The non-completion of projects was attributed to the spreading of the little resources that were disbursed as councillors in Ruwa wanted to see at least something being done in their wards for political reasons.
Way forward
In an interview with She Corresponds Africa, the Coordinator of Ruwa Residents & Ratepayers Association Trust, Mr Badges Chidemo raised concern over the use devolution funds.
“Ruwa Local Board should prioritise the completion of water supply projects to guarantee clean and potable water supply to the residents. Making such decisions to divert funds for water towards the tiling of a clinic is tantamount to violating the right to water as enshrined in Section 77 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. RURRAT implores the council to recognise the role of residents in particular the budget cycle. Making such resolutions without public consultations is a miscarriage of justice,” said Chidemo.
Efforts to get a comment from Ruwa town Clerk Kumbirai Madanhi were futile as he insisted on having a face-to-face meeting but ended up not responding to messages.
Former Ruwa town Mayor Vimbainashe Kizito Chivafa who is now a councillor for Ward 8 also refused to comment on the matter, stating that he is no longer the Mayor of the town council.
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