Online Reporter
Your Money, Your Call
Cresencia Marjorie Chiremba
IT took 17 caskets for the Chitungwiza Town Council to acknowledge the existence of its water pipes.
Following the recent tragic accident along Seke Road, which claimed the lives of 17 people, the council released a press statement announcing it would “provide water for two days” so mourners could offer dignified farewells to their loved ones.
What should have been a moment of sympathy instead became a cruel spotlight on the council’s longstanding inability to deliver basic services.
Water in Chitungwiza has become mythical: spoken of in bills, promised in council meetings, but rarely seen in actual taps.
Residents across Unit K, Zengeza and St Mary’s go for weeks — sometimes months — without running water.
Boreholes are overworked, queues stretch across blocks and water tanks have become prized possessions, not supplementary containers.
And yet, two days of grief were all it took for municipal taps to magically come alive.
The question burning in every household is simple: Where has this water been hiding?
“This town survives on drought excuses,” says a mother of four in Zengeza 2.
“They act like water is gold — something you must earn through mourning.”
Water is not a luxury; it is a necessity enshrined in the Constitution and affirmed in international human rights statutes. Every child who skips bathing, every parent boiling unsafe water and every patient admitted to clinics in the absence of sanitary conditions is being short-changed — day in, day out.
For years, the local authority has failed to provide consistent water services, despite collecting rates from every household.
The frustration has reached boiling point — not just because of the accident, but because residents are tired of paying for what they never receive.
There is a growing consensus on the ground that the council has abandoned its core responsibilities, choosing to respond only when tragedy creates a public relations opportunity.
Beyond the physical implications, there is emotional exhaustion.
Residents feel unheard, neglected and exploited.
The ratepayer-council relationship has eroded into a transactional ritual — monthly bills paid with no guarantee of service. Trust in local governance is fading, replaced by frustration and cynicism.
No infrastructure overhaul. No honest timelines. No contingency plans.
Just silence . . . until a convoy of hearses prompts a temporary performance of competence.
“It is insulting,” says a local plumber.
“They tell us there is no water every other day. Then suddenly they have it, because the media is watching? That is not leadership — that is theatre.”
While it is true that councils across the country are grappling with ageing infrastructure and budget challenges, Chitungwiza’s issues are compounded by a staggering lack of urgency.
Public meetings rarely lead to actionable outcomes and promises evaporate as quickly as the water they claim to provide.
This is not about politics; it is about priorities.
The council’s role is to protect dignity in life, not just in death.
Dignified funerals do not begin with a burst of water for two days — they start with the daily assurance that families can cook, clean, bathe and drink without rationing each drop like it is a luxury.
It is no longer enough to blame economic conditions or red tape. The real failure is in the local leadership.
The town council has created a pattern: react only when disaster makes silence impossible. In doing so, they have transformed grief into a grotesque form of customer service. What is needed is transparency, urgency and a clear pivot away from reactive governance.
If the council can magically find water when mourners gather, then they are admitting that scarcity is not always the issue. Mismanagement is!
Chitungwiza does not need temporary sympathy. It needs permanent solutions. Water is not a favour — it is a right.
Cresencia Marjorie Chiremba is a marketing and customer service consultant, customer experience columnist, and sales and service trainer. Contact details: [email protected] or +263712979461, 0719978335, 0772978335, www.customersuccess.co.zw
