A man uses buckets to collect safe drinking water for his family in Kwadzana township as he launches a campaign to vaccinate people with cholera vaccine in affected areas of Harare on January 29, 2024. (Photo provided by: Jekesai NJIKIZANA/AFP)
In Zimbabwe, water management is to be decentralized.
In other words, the country's seven regions have the authority to manage their water resources in a way that best suits their needs.
In each region, the Zimbabwe National Water Board works with watershed councils, sub-watershed councils, village committees and water user organizations to decide how water should be managed.
Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe all assign authority and responsibility for water governance to local communities. This allows communities to make important water decisions without involving central government at every step.
During the colonization of Zimbabwe, black communities were marginalized by the white government and had little influence over water management. This makes water decentralization even more important.
I research natural resource governance, particularly water governance and postcolonial African policies in southern Africa. My research investigated how political interference prevents communities from managing their own water resources in Zimbabwe.
I interviewed water experts and lawyers working on water governance and reviewed newspaper and magazine articles and books on water governance in Zimbabwe.
We find that Zimbabwe's attempts to decentralize water management have not been fully implemented. This is due to resistance from the ruling Zanu-PF party, which fears losing control of the water. As a result, community participation in local water systems is undermined.
Inefficient water management doesn't just prevent people from getting clean drinking water. It also hinders the economic productivity of rural areas that rely on small-scale agriculture.
These problems can only be solved if water ceases to be a political issue. It must be left in the hands of local communities and skilled technicians. The Zimbabwean government also needs to upgrade and maintain its water infrastructure.
what went wrong
At independence in 1980, Zimbabwe inherited an unequal colonial society. This also extended to water management policy. The Water Act of 1976 linked water and land ownership, biasing water provision in favor of the white minority. The law was finally repealed in 1998, almost 20 years after independence.
The Water Act of 1998 established the Zimbabwe National Water Authority, which works with local organizations to develop, manage and utilize water resources.
However, for various reasons, this never happened.
- Decisions favorable to the ruling party were imposed on local communities, and there was political interference in local water boards. Grassroots organizations could have organized strong community participation in water boards, but they were undermined by political interference
- In areas where local opposition parties are in power, conflicts have erupted between the ruling party and the opposition parties. Opposition leaders have accused the ruling party of withholding funds that could have helped water treatment and infrastructure in the region.
For example, in November 2023, 50 people died of cholera in Chitungwiza, a suburb of the capital Harare, without running water for several days.
Before independence from white rule in 1980, water was segregated and black communities in urban and rural areas did not always have clean running water.
Postcolonial governments did not completely change this. For example, the government has been unable to invest in upgrading local dams and the Kariba Dam, built in the 1960s by colonial governments to generate energy for both Zambia and Zimbabwe. Urban populations are increasing, but water networks are not, resulting in water shortages.
This poor water management, combined with droughts and El Niño events caused by climate change, is creating problems for humanity and the economy. Today, Zimbabwe is experiencing its worst drought in living memory. The water level at Kariba Dam has dropped significantly. This caused severe power outages in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Rural, small-scale farming areas such as Mzi district in Zimbabwe's far east have no water in their dams. As a result, a large-scale crop failure occurred this year.
solution
Several steps are needed to resolve Zimbabwe's water crisis.
— Invest in water infrastructure: Governments must provide communities with the financial support they need to upgrade their infrastructure. This includes purchasing chemicals to treat water and upgrading water monitoring systems.
— Eliminate political interference in water supplies: Independent water experts should oversee the decentralization of water resources, free from political influence.
— Decentralization and decentralization of power: Zimbabwe's 2013 constitution provides for vesting the powers and functions of the central government in provincial assemblies, metropolitan assemblies and local governments. It takes political will to actually do this.
— Empowering communities through stronger institutions: Zimbabwe's centralized system discourages strong local institutions. Independent institutions are important in empowering communities.
— Ensure government transparency: Governments should publish financial reports that reveal how much money is allocated to water projects, both at the national and local government level. Communities must participate in budgeting. This way, communities can know how much money is being spent on water resources.
Gwinyai Regis Taruvinga is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand.
This article was first published by conversation.
