Sifelani Tsiko Syndication Writer
Zimbabwe needs to speed up the realignment of the Water Act with the new Constitution. This will help bring clean water and sanitation to thousands of people who lack access to the precious commodity, water and legal experts say.
Andrew Mushita, head of Community Technology Development Trust, a local NGO, told a national workshop on water rights implementation recently that failure to harmonise disjointed pieces of legislation on water could result in an acute shortage of water and fuel commercialisation and corporatisation.
“Water-related concerns of the poor rural and urban residents have not received appropriate attention,” he said.
“Government should harmonise the Water Act with the Constitution which recognises for the first time the right to water.
“Water is the most essential resource on earth. It is essential for life, crucial for relieving poverty, hunger, diseases and economic development. The state is obliged to provide its citizens with safe, clean and portable water.”
Water and legal experts called for a moral crusade to bring clean water and sanitation to the poor. Dorothy Mushayavanhu, a legal expert, said realigning the Water Act with the Constitution would help promote equitable, safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as an integral component of the realisation of all human rights in the country.
“There are a lot of gaps that need to be addressed as a matter of urgency,” she says. “Implementation of water rights has been weak and there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed — devolution of power, restitution, impact of pollution on water bodies and weak decisions by the judiciary.”
She expressed concern that penalties or fines were failing to curb the pollution of water.
“It has become cheaper for polluters to pay fines and permits, while raw effluent is being discharged into the rivers. Our judiciary is weak in dealing with these cases, it’s cheaper for councils, companies and other polluters to pay fines and get away with it.”
CTDT organised the indaba on water rights implementation in the context of the Constitution.
The platform presented water and legal experts with an opportunity to review current laws and identify the gaps hampering the fulfilment of the right to water.
Experts also looked at the roles and responsibilities of water regulating authorities and how these can contribute towards sustainable water management and the attainment of water rights by all citizens.
Participants also evaluated stakeholder involvement in water management to improve water regulation in Zimbabwe.
A total of 400 Acts of Parliament are yet to be aligned to the national charter, four years after the Constitution was adopted in May 2013.
Water related laws in Zimbabwe include the Constitution, Water Act (1998), the Zimbabwe National Water Authority Act (2000), the Environmental Management Act and the Mines and Minerals Act.
Section 77 of the Constitution of Zimbabwean Amendment (No.20) Act of 2013 states that every person has a right to safe, clean and potable water and sufficient food. The provision calls on the State to take reasonable legislative and other measures within the limits of resources available to it, to achieve the progressive realization of this right.
Experts called on the Attorney-General’s Office and Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate to speed up the harmonization of the Water Act with the Constitution to help promote fair and equal access to water.
They warned that failure to harmonise the Act on time could ratchet up disputes and the unsustainable use of water.
Participants opined that conflict over water was already simmering in various parts of the country. They say this became evident when the country was hit by drought last year which forced many people to fight for the scarce resource. — Zimpapers Syndication.
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Some of the key concerns raised included that the Water Act must
Include ‘right to water’
Government framework for progressive realisation of this right.
A basic free water threshold for all the people especially the elderly, disabled and underprivileged
Include improvement of water supply
Incorporate elements and principles of environmental justice
Balanced between the need to conserve water and make reasonable allowances on the use of water for primary purposes
Recognise traditional leaders and women in the management of water resources
Involve accountability and transparency in the management of water
Restitution.
“Water rights are enshrined in our Constitution, but they are not being implemented at all,” said Dr Upenyu Mazarura, a University of Zimbabwe water management expert.
“People must have a minimum amount of water, a threshold to be precise. Sometimes there are situations in which councils violate people’s rights to access water and how do we compensate them when they don’t get the water?
“As Zimbabweans we should treat water as a resource that is in short supply. We should promote community participation and involvement of women.”
Said Mushayavanhu: “The local community is being sidelined in the Sub Catchment Councils. Traditional leaders, women and other vulnerable groups are not actively participating. Greater involvement is critical for them.”
Regis Mafuratidze, a CTDT legal expert, said there was need to use access benefit sharing (ABS) concepts to promote the collective access, use and benefit sharing of water resources.
“Local communities are not benefiting from their resources because there are others who are prejudicing them,” he said. “Ngatiregei kudya chemupfupi nekureba. Let’s involve the local community and promote collective access to water.”
Chief Chikwaka, Murambiwa Witness Bungu, of Goromonzi expressed concern over the exploitation and marginalization of local communities when it came to the harnessing of water resources.
“The situation is chaotic now. We need to do something to address all the concerns raised in this meeting,” he said. “If nothing is done zvichaita sebhasikiti raTizirai — vamwe vachiruka kumusoro, vamwe vachirudunura kuzasi kwaro.”
Said Solomon Kagoro, a Chegutu Rural District councillor: “We need to unite and call for the harmonization of the Water Act with the Constitution. Iko zvino inongova gabhagabha pamba peshirikadzi vana vachiita donga wadonga.”
Participants agreed that there was need for a fair and inclusive agenda to restore hope and confidence in the water sector.
Poor water management in Zimbabwe has come at a heavy price.
Water experts say in the 2008 — 2012 and again last year, the country was hit hardest by water-related epidemics like cholera and typhoid which led to the death of scores of people.
Water and legal experts all agreed the minister responsible for the administration of the Water Act must develop steps that clearly show how the right to water and to a clean safe environment will be progressively realised.
They said that no limitations on use of water for primary purposes should be placed on consumers.
“The use of water for reasonable primary purposes should not be limited by quantity or access via private land,” said a participant.
“Water disconnections must be accompanied by court orders and local authorities should not have the power to disconnect water in people’s homes without a court order.”
Participants also urged local authorities to adhere to the good governance and transparency principles espoused in the Constitution in relation to social services such as water.
“The money taken from fines is not being used properly in the rehabilitation of the environment,” said Mushayavanhu.
“We are not seeing this and there is need to take practical steps to address these gaps and ensure money collected from fines and other penalties is used to protect the environment.”
Environmental Management Agency (EMA) director general Mutsa Chasi said the level of water pollution was alarming in some water bodies.
“As a country we have skirted around water access issues for a long time,” she said. “Water at Darwendale Dam is so polluted that it cannot be harnessed for use. It’s now a sewer pool, it cannot be utilised. Umguza, too, is heavily polluted and we had to alert the Ministry of Health to decommission boreholes for a community close to the river.
“A chrome miner was responsible for this and was only fined $4 000 by the courts. This was very short of what the community had suffered. They didn’t even assist in the rehabilitation of the boreholes.”
The reality of water pollution is grim.
“How is it going to look like in five, 10 or 20 years from now if we don’t address these critical water issues,” Chasi said. “Are we are not a water scarce country. . . We are polluting water and we need to take collective responsibility for this.”
Zimbabwe has areas of contradiction and conflict in terms of how its water is managed.
All this has stalled the efficient and sustainable utilisation of water.
“Residents still lack access to water and sanitation,” said Mushita. “Water should be viewed as a fundamental right to human life instead of regarding it as an economic good.
“Government should not accept market forces and pure profit to drive the provision of basic services. Zimbabwe needs to come up with legislation guaranteeing each person a minimum amount of water per day (free basic water policy.”
According to the World Health Organisation, each person should get 1 700 cubic mm water per capita/per annum.
About 3,5 million deaths related to inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene occur each year mostly in developing countries, according to a 2013 UN water report.
Commercialisation of water has worsened the situation with the water packaging industry reaping huge profits.
Experts said people who are financially capable were digging boreholes on their land and selling water at exorbitant prices.
Globally, approximately 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water and more than 2,6 billion do not have access to basic sanitation. — Zimpapers Syndication.