By Yeukai Munetsi
Gweru Mayor Martin Chivhoko, is facing backlash after he made claims that he was going to make sure the city’s water woes were a thing of the past, as residents are calling him clueless and a pathetic liar.
The disgruntlement follows Chivhoko’s appearance on different media platforms claiming the successful installation of a transformer at Gwenhoro, which was expected to significantly increase the city’s pumping capacity.
Gweru Residence and Ratepayers Association (GRRA) Director Cornelia Seliphiwe raised concern about the mayor’s lack of technical understanding which he said led to disparities between official claims and reality on the ground.
“It is very unfortunate that a whole Mayor goes for interviews and talks about things he does not understand. It shows how dangerous he is to the community of Gweru because some of these things are too technical. There is no way a newly elected mayor would understand these things. We are still in trouble as we do not have water and residents are paying for a service they have not consumed,” said Seliphiwe.
Seliphiwe went on to say the mayor had appeared on different media platforms claiming the installation and commissioning of a transformer to ease the water issues which was not true and urged him to desist from relaying information that is not true.
“The mayor commented on certain news platforms that the transformer had successfully been installed and commissioned. He lied and had no idea what he was talking about.
“It is unfortunate that as Gweru residents we were lied to and I think the mayor should stop this behavior of going to the media with information that is not authentic and verified because he is not technical. I also think he should apologize,” he said.
Residents expressed disgruntlement in various WhatsApp platforms and said when Chivhoko was elected Mayor he promised to end water woes but nothing has changed so far.
A resident from Ward 15 who chose to remain anonymous raised concern over the unfair water rationing schedule claiming that several areas in Gweru continue to experience prolonged water shortages.
“There are some areas in my ward that go to over a month without water. We have an uneven distribution of water on the days allocated for us to get water such that when others in my community have water, our houses just across the road will have dry taps,” said the resident.
She further said the unfair distribution led to many residents paying for water that they had not used.
“Despite not getting the water, we are still paying for the water we have not used. My bill for this month is pegged at US$25,” she said.
Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe Chairperson (WCOZ) Gweru Chapter chairperson, Merjury Makunere, pointed out the detrimental effects of water shortages on women, including an increase in gender-based violence and unwanted pregnancies.
“These erratic water shortages and failure of the local authority to do proper assessment on the effectiveness of water distribution have led to women being victims of domestic violence. Women are being hit by their husbands for spending long hours on water queues at the expense of their domestic chores.
“There have also been cases of a sharp rise in unwanted pregnancies as young women are being taken advantage of by men at water queues to get favors to carry water and skip the long queues,” she said.
She urged the mayor to walk the talk and fulfill promises and implored Gweru City Council to do an assessment in the communities and set aside days for areas that are not receiving any water to be compensated.
Gweru City Council’s inability to fulfill the pledge of ensuring adequate water supply has led to widespread dissatisfaction among the disability community, prompting concerns about accountability and effective governance within the city.
Quadriplegics and Paraplegics Association of Zimbabwe, an organization for people on wheelchairs due to accidents, Program Coordinator Audry Rusike reiterated that the situation was worse for them.
“Where I reside in ward 15, Mkoba 16, houses opposite my house have water whilst houses in my line do not have any. I am surviving on paying people to carry water for me since I use a wheelchair and cannot do the task myself. The bills are always high and yet usually when we get the water it is at odd hours, at 11pm and by 0430 hours it will be disconnected. As people with spinal disabilities, medically we are required to sleep for specific hours but we are failing to do so as it takes long to fill our storage containers further worsening our situation,” said Rusike.
Youths from Ward 9 in parts of Mkoba 11 have also raised concern over the same issue saying it was affecting their informal businesses.
“As youths we survive on an informal economy selling different items. We have to wake up at 0400hours to go fetch water, in unprotected sources. Due to the long queues, we usually come back at around 0900hours and this has a negative impact on our businesses. We are always tired and failing to cope up with other responsibilities,” said Victor Mupoperi.
In response to the escalating discontent on GRAA WhatsApp platform, Chivhoko attributed the water shortages to power outages and urged residents to seek divine intervention or take matters into their own hands by engaging with the power utility, ZESA.
“Good morning our dear residents as your council we are doing our best to ensure that you get water every day. Unfortunately, some of these challenges are beyond our control; load shedding, erratic power outages, etc. Dayi mataura nyaya yekuenda kuZesa monokumbira dedicated line for Gwenhoro zvaitibatsira tose (if you could approach ZESA and ask for a dedicated line to Gwenhoro it would be beneficial to us all),” wrote Chivhoko.
