El Nino: Gutu Rural District Council revokes Mutangiri water rights

As the full effects of the El Nino-induced drought begin to be felt, Gutu Rural District Council (GRDC) has suspended Riverton Academy’s water rights permit saying supplies to the private school were disadvantaging people of Chiwara area and their livestock.

GRDC gave rights to Philemon Mutangiri, owner of the academy, to draw water from the Matezva Dam that lies next to Bikita Minerals on the Mungezi River which runs between Gutu and Bikita districts. 

But Riverton will from now on be expected to drill boreholes and come up with its own back-up plan to cover the gap created by the withdrawal of the water rights. 

A recent full council meeting heard that complaints had been received from the people in the Chiwara who fear the low water levels in the dam were endangering their lives and the lives of their livestock.

A subsequent investigation carried out by the council revealed that Riverton Academy was using the water which it drew from the Matezva Dam to water its pastures at the expense of the local community.

The council resolved that in view of the declining water levels in the dam, priority had to be given to the community.

It was unanimously agreed that the permit that entitled Riverton Academy to water rights in the dam be suspended until such time the situation improved.

Climatologists are predicting water conflicts as the effects of global warming increasingly take toll on world water resources with Sub-Saharan Africa being among the hardest hit.news