By Brian Maregedze
First published in 2020
As Zimbabwe's economy worsens, sextortion set in, with women and children falling victim to
this form of abuse and corruption. Drinking-water scarcity is a fundamental problem authorities have unsuccessfully dealt with for years in the country. Think-tanks, analysts, politicians and the like-minded have proffered various theories to explain the scourge of water scarcity
affecting many urban areas. The most prominent debate is the blame game between the ruling party Zimbabwe African National Union for the Patriotic
Front (ZANU PF) and the main opposition party Movement for Democratic
Change-Alliance (MDC-A). ‘The will to power dominates the will to live’ aptly
captures the way political parties [mis]treat the electorate in Zimbabwe.
“I don’t go to work, got no money to take care of myself although am
degreed from a prestigious local university” explains Rachel* at a
borehole queue for drinking water in Unit N, Seke- Chitungwiza. Rachel is a twenty-nine-year-old
lady who still hopes that possibly she can escape her current predicaments
through marriage. However, she sadly disclosed how she manages to cope with the
water challenges in her area by secretly having sexual relations with young men
who buy and sell water. Buying a twenty litres bucket is only ZW$3.00.
Averagely, each household of four to six people needs the same number of buckets,
translating to a maximum of twenty dollars a day. In a week, ZW$150.00
is just for water and ZW$600.00 goes for the whole month.
A male water entrepreneur whom we shall refer to as Tonnie points out
that, “There is nothing for free in Zimbabwe. Kana usina mari hauwane mvura.
Kana ukandipawo poto ndiko zvifambe. (If you’re broke, no water for you. If you offer me sex, at least you
can drink water)." This
is just just one of many
scenarios of the water scarcity situation in
Chitungwiza. Sometimes to evade the long queues to buy borehole water, paying
by other means is also now common. As such, sex is a currency used to bribe.
However, other residents indicated that the rainfall received in 2020 is a
relief since they can now survive partly outside the male-dominated
water entrepreneurship route which is not affordable to ordinary people.
The International Bar Association (IBA) defines sextortion as: “A form of
sexual exploitation and corruption that occurs when people in positions of
authority whether government officials, judges, educators, law enforcement personnel,
or employees seek to extort sexual favours in exchange for something within
their power to grant or withhold. In effect, sextortion is a form of corruption
in which sex, rather than money, is the currency of the bribe.”
In a report by Transparency International titled Gender and
Corruption in Zimbabwe (2019:11), in Chitungwiza, Glenview and Budiriro, there is
evidence of cases of women having to succumb to sextortion to get water. The
same report notes that some women who don’t have money to pay bribes are forced
to use sex as a form of payment. In the study, 45 percent
of women indicated having received requests as bribes for sexual favours to access a service.
Even though some claim water is a human right, the way it is immorally
commodified is a cause for concern.
The fact that water is being sold by other means points to the
decayed nature of service delivery in general. Many hours are spent on borehole
queues and sometimes wells at undesignated spaces. Women and children carry the
burden of waiting and expecting for better service delivery which in most cases
doesn’t materialize. To the few who access tap water, it’s in many ways
ghoulish. Again, the water may be available only at midnight. It’s now not an
issue of wonder to see long queues of people close to midnight waiting to buy
water when power is back. The sad reality of water woes can also be witnessed
by the government’s desperate reaction, early January 2020, of drilling a
borehole at the Parliament of Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, the poor carry the yoke of
suffering.
Beyond blame game
Given this context, it’s surprising to realise that in state and
non-state narratives, political parties still play blame-game rather than to
address the actual water woes at hand. The reality is that the water shortages
can be historically traced to poor colonial city planning. Over twenty years
ago, the late history
professor, David N. Beach, partially exonerated
ZANU PF led government when he argued that;
Even urban planning was atrociously bad.
Leaving aside the lack of thinking that left only a 45° segment of Salisbury
for the African population; the very siting of the city was and is incompetent.
It is well known that in 1890 the site was chosen at very short notice but what
is not generally known is that in 1891 the Company (British South Africa
Company [sic]) did think of resisting it, considering Norton, Mvurwi,
Darwendale and even Rusape. The proposal to move the town was rejected,
allegedly because the other sites were a few metres lower and thus less
healthy, but actually because six brick buildings had already been put up, and
the property developers did not want to lose their investments. Consequently,
the town remained where the city is, upstream of its main water supply, and
thus we are condemned to drink our own recycled waste! (Beach 1999: 14)
The same scholar went on to note that;
“Unfortunately, when it comes to long-term planning Homo sapiens zimbabweensis is not
significantly different from H. sapiens
rhodesiensis. Indeed, the two are far more alike than many, would care to
concede.”
The water scarcity challenge now has a blame game tradition which
has to be dispelled by all means necessary. If Zimbabwe is to work again,
incompetence from all political parties exhibited in blame games should end.
Forty years since the country attained its independence, the blame game
narrative is all some political actors’ sleeves got to offer. Why then does history
matter if humankind isn’t ready to learn from it? The Rhodesi-was-better
nostalgia propagated by some academics and activists is more surprising.
D.N Beach concluded his inaugural lecture in October 1998 painting
pessimism rather than optimism whenever he gave reference to population growth
in Zimbabwe. Urbanisation has been more of a curse rather than a blessing equally
complemented by ill-advised policy makers whether pro or anti-establishment.
Water provision was premised on racial and segregation policies with
African townships relegated to the periphery in quality service provision. It’s also a truism that all the political
actors involved have proven failing to the electorate as they have all been
corrupt, prone to
mismanagement of funds and poor urban planners. Above
that, the political actors have not addressed the problematic geographic
location of Harare in water provision.
The areas being affected by water scarcity and water stress seem
to be dried up more by the consistent lack of respect for wetlands or swamps. In
January 2020, Minister Mangalisa Ndlovu made a chilling warning to those who
continuously use the current model of so-called development in municipalities.
He described the decimation of wetlands as a heist on biodiversity that risks
food and water shortages as well as driving species into extinction. In twenty
years, all wetlands will likely disappear, hence worsening the already dire
situation the country is experiencing. Climate change is real and as such,
practical corrective steps should be taken.
In 2017, Budiriro residents ‘paid dearly’ for having houses built on
the wrong place. The land mafia, that is, housing co-operatives and the
politicians play the bigger part in deceiving citizens. Building in wetlands to
meet the housing demands has its repercussions if not well addressed. Beyond
political rhetoric, reason should reign. The land audit instituted by the
president, Emmerson Mnangagwa exposed how politicians use land in vote buying
from within his party and outside. Failure to walk the talk in addressing these
problems is testimony to those who still have hope in the leadership that it is still a
mirage.
Underground water disappearance is fueled by such irresponsible
behavior from the supposedly responsible authorities. The Environment
Management Agency (EMA) has indications that in Chitungwiza, fourteen out of fifteen
wetlands have been taken over by construction. Given this scenario, residents
become the source of their problems. Wetlands are critical as they act like a
sponge which absorbs water and then recharges underground water so that the
water table remains high. Not only that, but wetlands also help control
flooding by absorbing excess water and releasing it gradually into water
bodies. As such wetlands preservation partially assist to address the changing
climatic conditions. Water woes, sextortion and blame game will remain a
perennial problem if citizens remain silent.
* Not her real
name
For feedback, email; bmaregedze@gmail.com
