Panic over flooding fears: A case of perpetual unpreparedness

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 Harare, and much of Zimbabwe- and a greater part of Southern Africa has received good rainfall this season. This has been a much welcome change; in 2024 the El Nino (a weather occurrence which causes poor rainfall and droughts swept across the region, and as a consequence more than 50 million people were in need of food aid, according to World Food Program (WFP, 2024). However these good rains continue to expose how much unprepared our Southern cities are for abundant rain because of flooding within many cities. Just a few days ago the Town Council of Harare issued a warning that there were high flood risks in many parts of the city. You can read the story on the following link

Harare issues sterk warning of flooding risk

This comes as no surprise really, many drains have been clogged with dirt and rubbish and are no longer functional. The water has no exit points and all the water end up flooding most homes and buildings. Proper maintenance of the city’s key infrastructure is so poor, it’s actually nonexistent. The city inherited everything from the colonial government in good and working order, now because of mismanagement and corruption, service delivery is not done at the residents’ expense. Despite many efforts by vocal citizens to raise these issues out, nothing has been done. Last week i had an opportunity to travel with a woman who is wife to a City of Harare worker, she told me that her husband and other co workers have not been paid December 2025 salaries. Its unbelievable because the Town Clerk earns about $30kUSD per month, whilst general workers are not even earning $USD 500. Thats the sad reality. The people in these top offices only got there through political arm pulling, they are not concerned about the city. Everything is politicized at the citizens expense. The city has enough time to plan, but ignores these issues, leaving many at the risk of losing their properties and homes and possibly their lives.

Also, the city has ignored the laws that safeguard wetlands, allowing development on wetlands. Many other people who are at risk are those who built on wetlands. Everyone wants to be closer to the city, but there just isnt land left anymore. People have failed to grasp why these places were left in the first place. Many areas were left as wetland areas that serve a function of taking in all the excess water. Now these places are disappearing faster than you can say ‘rocket’ and there is no accountability or anything.

Update of flooding in Southern Africa.

According to Google Flood Hub, there are flooding warnings issues in parts of Botswana, South Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. And if you dig deeper, you will realise its all because of infrastructural challenges.

I hope this season will be a time for many city authorities to reflect on their actions.

End.



Scenes from Harare as more rains continue to pour in.
Note: the images are unverified. Credits to respective owners. 


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