Harare high-density suburbs, including Glenview, Budiriro, and Glenora continue to cry foul over the authorities’ lack of responsiveness in terms of water service delivery with the water crisis having started last year. It is quite sorrowful and equally agitating that in these suburbs, the majority of residents are going for over 5 days a week without running water.
Residents are forced to travel for over 12 km in quest of water to drink and use for other family chores like laundry, washing, and cooking. One of the main barricades faced by the dwellers is failure to get a platform to air their challenges to their elected representatives due to the fact that most of them have been recalled from both the Parliament and the local authority which has now created more harm than good as by-elections are suspended to an unknown period.
Meanwhile, Chitungwiza a dormitory town with over half a million residents have water problems for over thirty years, and over half a million residents are affected on daily basis. The problem is that Chitungwiza doesn’t have its own source of water. Residents have engaged the Ministry of Local Government and Chitungwiza municipality, but nothing happened. In April 2020 residents took Chitungwiza Municipality, Ministry of Health and Childcare, Ministry of Local Government to high court. Right now, residents have a court order that compels Chitungwiza Municipality to provide residents with tap water and provide bowsers etc. There are also private companies that started giving residents clean water for free. Now residents are advocating for the construction of Muda dam and have since launched the End Water Poverty campaign in September 2021.
