Zimbabwe Government Mismanagement, Corruption Risks Lives of Millions by Justice Sibanda

http://www.hrw.org/node/120594

 The water and sanitation crisis in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, places millions of residents at risk of waterborne disease, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Five years after cholera killed over 4,000 people and sickened 100,000 more, the conditions that allowed the epidemic to flourish persist in Harare’s high-density suburbs.

The 60-page report, “Troubled Water: Burst Pipes, Contaminated Wells, and Open Defecation in Zimbabwe’s Capital,” describes how residents have little access to potable water and sanitation services, and often resort to drinking water from shallow, unprotected wells that are contaminated with sewage, and to defecating outdoors. The conditions violate their right to water, sanitation, and health. The report is based on research conducted in 2012 and 2013 in Harare, including 80 interviews with residents, mostly women, in eight high-density suburbs.

Corruption and mismanagement at the local and national levels of government exacerbate the situation, Human Rights Watch said. For example, city budget guidelines specify that most of the revenue from water must be ploughed back into the system for maintenance and improvement, but even government officials acknowledged that the money is diverted for other uses. As a result, key parts of the service delivery system, like purchasing water treatment chemicals, are not adequately funded, leading the city to produce less potable water.  

The government of Zimbabwe is obliged under international law to protect the right to water and sanitation, Human Rights Watch said. In 2010, Zimbabwe voted for a United Nations General Assembly resolution establishing the right to water and sanitation. The government should take a number of steps to improve Harare’s water and sanitation crisis, including investing in low-cost sanitation and water strategies. These include providing community toilets and pit latrines, and drilling and maintaining boreholes so that residents do not have to rely on contaminated sources.

Justice Melusi Sibanda 
Organising Secretary – ROHR Zimbabwe/Bradford Branch