Earlier this month, they reported the death of four rhinos, three zebras, four wildebeests and four fish eagles. Approximately after a week or so they went on to report the death of a thousand fish all due to the rise in Cyanobacteria due to pollution from raw sewage in Lake Chivero, Harare. While watching most interviews and reading articles that reported on the issue, what was noted is that the Mayor of the City of Harare never mentioned anything about the Harare City Council being accountable. He went on to blame the illegal settlements around the area.
Which may be the case but however it has become a norm for leadership to avoid taking accountability for not doing what they get paid to do. Placing aside the Lake Chivero incident, which should not have happened, for over decades now Harare has had unsafe tap water despite it being the capital city of Zimbabwe. There are some places around the city where they solely depend on borehole water and they have never had a drop of water coming out of their taps and if it does, the water will be unclean and unsafe for drinking. Which is rather not sustainable because why then do people have to pay water bills and then purchase water for drinking?
True that Harare has a lot of illegal settlements which contributes towards unhealthy environments. But all this is happening right under the city council, they allow for it to happen. They also allow for people settle on wetlands then and when people get affected by the floods, like they previously did, they go on to talk about poor town planning. Yet people were allowed to occupy those areas. None of them ever wants to correct their wrongs by ever taking accountability for not doing their jobs.
A lot of lakes, rivers and dams have dried up. A lot of people were dependent on Lake Chivero and inclusive of animals. But all that is gone due to the Harare City Council for failing to properly deal with the sewage waste. Climate change has affected us enough, people are experiencing water poverty as it is, this shouldn’t have been added to the list.
image by: Dreamstime.com
Written by: Phathisankosi P. Moyo
Also known as Starlight, a spoken word poet who uses her platform to raise awareness about climate change and social Justice and inspires action through poetry. She is also an emerging eco-friendly fashion designer who is passionate about promoting sustainable practices in the fashion industry, advocating for the recycling, up-cycling and reuse of fabric. She aims to inspire a new generation of leaders to prioritize environmental stewardship, social justice and creative expression.
