In the days leading up to Zimbabwe’s elections this August, the ruling party, ZANU PF, has been quick to criticize the opposition for allegedly mismanaging urban areas. They claim to have the solutions but, in reality, the situation in cities and towns shows a different story.
Take smaller towns like Redcliff, for example. People there have been dealing with unreliable water services for a long time. The roads are in bad shape, and city infrastructure like street lighting is often ignored. Local authorities seem to ignore these obvious problems, leaving many to wonder why.
Residents are also upset about shady land deals that don’t seem to help them at all. Instead, the money from these deals appears to go towards fancy cars and smartphones for top managers. There’s a growing feeling of resentment as these benefits don’t reach the people who need them.
The situation worsens with projects like a new major road that was supposed to be built. Despite the money paid in advance, there’s been no progress, and excuses keep piling up, especially about the bad water supply in the poorer parts of Redcliff.
While these complaints are valid, it’s wrong for ZANU PF to use these issues to gain political advantage. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government criticizes the opposition but ignores its own role in bringing about these problems.
Zimbabwe’s struggle with urban issues, especially the water crisis, is mainly due to ZANU PF’s failure to invest in essential infrastructure. The government has not built new water resources or updated the old ones left from colonial times. This has made life difficult for the growing number of city dwellers.
The power sector is another area where neglect is evident. Zimbabwe still relies on old equipment, some of which was installed during or just after the colonial era. Lack of updates and maintenance has led to long power outages, hurting an already struggling economy.
Claims by ZANU PF that they handed over well-functioning cities to the opposition after losing elections are misleading. The truth is that the country has been surviving on what was built during colonial times, and the effects of years of neglect are now evident.
The government’s recent efforts, like drilling boreholes in cities, show that they can’t provide long-term solutions to water issues. This approach by finance minister Mthuli Ncube and President Mnangagwa in places like Cowdary Park, Bulawayo, Chitungwiza, and Epworth, is just a temporary fix and acknowledges their failure to maintain urban standards.
The fact that even top officials rely on boreholes is a clear sign that the problem of clean drinking water is unresolved. This issue goes beyond who is in charge locally; it’s a deeper problem that speaks to historical failures.
The heart of the urban crisis in Zimbabwe is ZANU PF’s long-term failure to develop and maintain infrastructure for water and electricity. Solving this problem would need a lot of investment, which seems unlikely given the party’s focus on personal gains rather than the country’s needs.