Can Zanu PF clean the CCC mess?

BY MOSES MATENGA

 

Harare is a political raging fire and two centres of power are in charge.

 

Residents of the metropolis despise Zanu PF but are deeply in love with the opposition hence Town House is run by the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) with 40 of the elected councillors and the very minority being the party governing nationally, Zanu PF with five councillors.

 

All burden to deliver is on the 40 who have their choice for Mayor Jacob Mafume in charge.

 

The 40 are expected to deliver on potable water, passable roads and refuse collection together with other responsibilities.

 

Documents show that Mafume admits they can’t fulfil some of what they were voted for so does his Town Clerk, Phakamile Mabhena Moyo and they all feel its time for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to step in, a case of passing over responsibility.

 

“In light of the above, we humbly appeal for Presidential intervention to adress this crisis urgently. Declaring a state of emergency for Harare’s water and wastewater infrastructure will enable expedited interventions, bypassing bureaucratic delays that are unsuitable given the urgency,” Mabhena Moyo said in a letter to the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Martin Rushwaya last year.

 

Mabhena Moyo’s submission in the letter formulates a court application by Kuimba Shiri run by Gary Stafford who, together with his colleague business operators, feel let down by the filth and the contamination of Lake Chivero that is now a threat to lives.

 

Mabhena Moyo said the if the President intervenes, a lot of doors will be opened.

 

No doubt they will but will the officials at Town House deliver given their previous unpleasant relationship with resources.

 

“Presidential powers can facilitate resource mobilisation, deployment of technical expertise and implementation of immediate stabilising measures such as bioremediation of Lake Chivero, upgrading water treatment plants and rehabilitating key sewer lines,” the letter gleaned by Business Times reads in part.

 

Its action or death, says Mabhena Moyo

 

“The issues highlighted including the contamination of Lake Chivero and the widespread failure of critical infrastructure demand urgent intervention at the highest level. The gravity of this crisis necessitates action beyond the normal administrative processes as the risks to life and health can never be overstated,” Mabhena Moyo added.

 

Mafume feels the same.

 

“It is evident that the city of Harare’s capacity to address these challenges has been outpaced by the scale and the complexity of the problem. As emphasized in the Town Clerk’s letter, the proposed interventions require Presidential intervention and authority to bypass bureaucratic delays and enable a coordinated, decisive response. Such a response is critical for stabilizing the situation and prevent long term consequences for both the environment and the residents of Harare,” Mafume wrote.

 

No tangible explanation to what happened to the Chinese US$144mn loan and that is worrying

 

Mabhena Moyo argues nothing tangible came out of the loan but only “negative headlines” and criticism.

 

Of course there was bound to be negative publicity and criticism for the people were not happy Harare officials chose luxurious vehicles over the job at hand.

 

The US$72mn, reported by the Town Clerk as US$70mn was used to buy luxury vehicles much to the chagrin of residents who felt it was insensitive and greed for officials to take such a choice.

 

“The City of Harare, with national endorsement, secured a US$144 million concessional loan facility from the China EXIM Bank to overhaul its aging water and wastewater systems.

 

“Unfortunately, due to widespread negative publicity and resistance from segments of the public, only US$70 million of the total agreed amount was released,” the report reads in part.

 

This, the report says, severely limited the scope of works, leaving critical components unfunded and incomplete.

 

“Had the full US$144 million been disbursed, council would have been in a strong position to resolve the

bulk of these service challenges. Instead, Council now faces the burden of repaying the US$70mn loan while continuing to seek supplementary funding to address outstanding medium- and long-term rehabilitation plans,” the report reads.

 

This dual burden of servicing external debt while managing unaddressed infrastructure gaps has since placed council in a financially constrained position that affects both operational stability and compliance capacity.

 

If Harare couldn’t be trustworthy with US$72mn, how can they be trusted with more millions?

 

Indeed, Mnangagwa’s intervention is needed now more than ever before if residents of Harare are to be rescued from the water crisis.

 

The piping has aged, there is perennial pipe bursts and loss of over 60% of treated water.

 

This shows a crisis but the question still begs, can Harare ne trusted to solve the problem now?

 

The City of Harare manages a sewer reticulation network of approximately 5,000 kilometers, composed of various pipe materials including asbestos cement (AC), earthenware, steel, PVC, and CCGRP.

 

Significant proportion of the pipes were inserted before independence.

“These aged pipelines are prone to sudden collapse, infiltration, and exfiltration, especially under high flows or changing ground conditions. Most failures occur without warning and are only detected once subsidence or service disruption is observed.

 

Given the age and depth of these assets, proactive monitoring requires expensive and sophisticated technologies that are currently unaffordable. As a result, the network operates in a reactive rather than predictive maintenance mode, severely affecting service reliability. Sewer condition surveys requires CCTV and the ones in our workshops broke down several years ago.”

 

Procurement of digital CCTV requires foreign currency which is not currently available.

 

Water facts for Harare

 

Harare produces approximately 340 ML/day of potable water—300 ML/day from Morton Jaffray and 40ML/day from boreholes.

 

“Based on a typical 60% return rate, about 204 ML/day of wastewater is expected.

Of the 204ML/day generated the city’s collection efficiency is 56% hence only 44% is lost within residential

and transmission system. While the city is making frantic efforts to catch up with the lagging capital projects,

all stakeholders should come on board.

 

 

Challenges for Sewage Treatment Plants in Harare

 

The City has faced relentless vandalism of critical sewer infrastructure.

 

Cast iron manhole covers are

frequently stolen and sold as scrap, leaving the network vulnerable to illegal dumping of solid waste—

especially diapers, rags, rubble, and kitchen utensils.

 

These materials cause downstream blockages and

irreparable damage to mechanical pumps.

 

Similarly, pump stations have experienced theft of control panels, cabling, motors, and safety hatches—rendering them inoperable for extended periods. This criminal activity

not only inflates maintenance costs but increases the risk of raw sewage release.

 

While Council has

introduced lockable polymer lids and security patrols at critical sites, these measures are insufficient without broader legal and policing interventions. Most of the criminals will be armed and overcome our security.

 

There

are efforts to construct brickwall around these facilities but in the meantime these challenges are a reality we face as a city.

 

Can the crisis be solved

 

Harare Residents Trust, Director Precious Shumba thinks it can’t as long as local government doesn’t show up, water will remain a perfect money-making venture.

 

“Main water decisions are now being made at the national level and not by councillors neither by the residents,” Shumba said recently.

 

“There is little they can do to deal with the situation because national government is just saying engage Helcraw it will provide prepaid water meters. Those are temporary interventions because the real issue affecting Harare is unavailability of water, when it is available it has visible impurities.”

 

He said water funds are not being ring-fenced as the precious liquid is a cash cow for any local authorities.