Harare water bombshell!

BY TANAKA FETINANDI/KUDAKWASHE CHIBVURI

Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume says his council has dismally failed to address Harare’s perennial water crisis, remain hopeless on how to proceed with addressing the environmental crisis at the Lake Chivero and the challenge of aged infrastructure with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s intervention the only hope.

This is contained in documents that form part of a court application by Kuimba Shiri (Private) Ltd who is suing the city of Harare, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA), the Environmental Management Agency and the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority over the contamination of Lake Chivero that has led to the death of several animals and fish.

The case was heard at the High Court last week as the legal battle continues.

Documents gleaned by Business Times show that the crisis in Harare is so dire and the city fathers have no solid plan to manage it except through the intervention of the highest authority on the land, the President.

Gary Stafford, proprietor of Kuimba Shiri told the court that he was suing the named entities including Harare for polluting the lake and his facility leading to loss of potential revenue and animals.

“My claim is not merely premised on death of animals. It is premised on the closure of lake activities which negatively impacted my resort. The closure was as a result of the city of Harare’s self-admitted negligence in

polluting the lake whereupon my business is located,” he said.

“I have graphically presented financial statements confirming my losses. The 1st Respondent (city of Harare) admitted to their negligence and they cannot blow hot and cold. They are estopped from making contrary averments,” he added.

He said the letters by the Town Clerk and the Mayor to the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet is an admission of Harare’s dire state of water and wastewater infrastructure which is a threat to public health and environmental sustainability.

Politics, empty speeches will not solve Harare crisis.

“I agree that there is need for a coordinated decisive response to mitigate the current

situation and long term impact and consequences of this environmental crisis and hence I have decided to invite the court to make a finding on this fact and a ruling on the same. I say this in the interests of transparency, accountability, justice and

stakeholder participation in the monitoring and evaluation of the environmental crisis,” he said.

“I note the admission made by the Mayor that the situation is indeed grave and I aver

that gone are the days when it can be left to bureaucratic closed door meetings of

politicians, blame games and grandstanding at the expense of private business, tourism, wildlife, public health and environmental protections and sustainability

measures.”

Mafume wrote to Chief Secretary in the office of the President and Cabinet last year pleading for the President to intervene in the matter.

“The contents of the Town Clerk’s letter present a clear and compelling case that the current situation in Harare is no longer tenable and poses an imminent threat to the public health, environmental sustainability and the overall wellbeing of our city,” Mafume wrote.

“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,” Mafume added.

He said the problem is now too big for Harare.

“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.”

“I therefore reaffirm the need for urgent intervention which includes declaring a state of emergency for Harare’s water and wastewater systems as appropriate and essential measures to mobilize resources and essential to mobilize the resources and expertise to address this crisis,” the Harare Mayor added.

Of the partial US$70mn China findings and unfulfilled rehabilitation

According to a report by Harare Water, the city received partial funding from China EXIM Bank but not much ground was covered.

“The City of Harare, with national endorsement, secured a USD 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 USD 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 USD 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 in part.

“This dual burden—servicing external debt while managing unaddressed infrastructure gaps—has placed Council in a financially constrained position that affects both operational stability and compliance capacity,” the report further stated.

Legacy Infrastructure and Unpredictable Pipe Failures

Background

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. A significant proportion of this network—particularly the AC and earthenware sections—was laid prior to Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980.

These pipes have significantly outlived their design life and are now structurally compromised.

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. Instead of EMA advocating for garnishing of the city’s accounts they should assist to lobby government to allow the city to collect in foreign currency.