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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 25 september 2019
Zimbabwe's capital runs dry as taps cut off for 2M people

By FARAI MUTSAKA were suffering from a "me- mobile phone. The deep-
Associated Press dieval" disease. ening frustrations have ex-
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The economic and social ploded more than once
Tempers flared on Tuesday pressures follow Mnangag- into protests that have
as more than 2 million resi- wa as he attends the annu- swiftly been followed by
dents of Zimbabwe's capi- al United Nations gathering sometimes violent govern-
tal and surrounding towns of world leaders this week. ment crackdowns.
found themselves without Zimbabwe once was a More than 50 government
water after authorities shut bright spot in southern Af- critics and activists have
down the main treatment rica and a regional bread- been abducted in Zim-
plant, raising new fears basket but the economy babwe this year, at times
about disease after a chol- has collapsed in recent tortured and warned by
era outbreak while the years, and foreign currency suspected state security
economy crumbles even is hard to come by. Prices agents to back off from
more. for many basic items con- anti-government actions.
Officials in Harare have Residents of Epworth wait to fetch water at a borehole in Harare, tinue to rise, and the public The government over the
struggled to raise foreign Tuesday, Sept, 24, 2019. health care system falters weekend warned against
currency to import wa- Associated Press as some doctors and others what it calls "fake" abduc-
ter treatment chemicals; phoid due to water short- going to hit us again. say they can hardly afford tions it asserts are meant to
about $2.7 million is need- ages and dilapidated "The president should treat the commute to work. make it look bad.
ed per month. Meanwhile, sewer infrastructure. Some us as human beings, we As services largely collapse, One abducted woman
water levels in polluted residents for months have voted for him." many Harare residents in was forced to drink raw
reservoirs are dropping be- been forced to get water Twenty-six people died last recent months have found sewage, Human Rights
cause of drought. from shallow, unsafe wells year in a cholera outbreak, themselves lining up at Watch said — a rare exam-
For residents who have and defecate in the open, leading President Emmer- wells in the middle of the ple of something that exas-
seen shortages of every- while children pick their son Mnangagwa to express night for water or lighting perated Harare residents
thing from medicines to way across fetid yards. dismay that Zimbabweans their homes by candle or now have in surplus.q
bread to petrol in recent The AP earlier this month
months, the latest indignity watched some residents
brought weariness and dis- pump water then wait a
gust. half-hour for enough water
"The toilets at school are to seep into a well to pump
just too filthy, people con- again.
tinue using them yet there is "We are suffering," said
no water," said 12-year-old Gladys Mupemhi, a resi-
Dylan Kaitano, who was dent of the low-income Ku-
among many uniformed wadzana suburb who said
school children waiting in some people woke up at
line at wells, some shoving 4 a.m. on Tuesday to wait
in impatience. "I didn't go for hours in line. "We are
to school today because I only allowed a maximum
have to be here." of 20 liters of water per per-
Everyone living in Harare son, what can I do with 20
is affected, City Coun- liters?"
cil spokesman Michael Claudius Madondo, chair-
Chideme said, as residents man of the residents asso-
turned to other options ciation controlling the line,
such as bottled water. He said nearby wells were no
called it a dangerous situ- longer functioning, forcing
ation because of the risk of the rationing. Some of the
water-borne diseases. people waiting heckled
"It is a desperate situation," him.
Deputy Mayor Enock Mu- "Nothing is working in this
pamaonde told The As- country, how do we sur-
sociated Press outside the vive?" Hatineyi Kamwanda,
closed treatment plant. another resident, said. "We
And more people are af- can't even use the toilets,
fected than thought, he the children are not going
said, estimating that anoth- to school because of this
er 2 million non-residents and now we fear cholera is
enter the city each day to
use its services and con-
duct business.
At the Chivero reservoir,
the city's main water sup-
ply, plastic bottles, vehicle
tires and algae floated in
the shallow water which
was green and emitted a
choking, foul smell.
Zimbabwe's capital now
frequently records cases
of diseases such as ty-