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On 28 July 2010, through Resolution 64/292, the United Nations General Assembly explicitly recognised the human right to water and sanitation and acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realisation of all human rights.The Resolution calls upon States and international organisations to provide financial resources, help capacity-building and technology transfer to help countries, in particular developing countries, to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all. The world body also says the human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realisation of other human rights.

According to the UN, the right to water is the right of everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable and physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses. In that regard, governments around the world have been encouraged to enhance their efforts to satisfy basic human needs and to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

Zimbabwe is one of the African countries that have gone to great lengths to meet the UN resolution with the majority of its people having access to clean water. This has been possible due to a judicious management of water through local authorities and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority.

Bulawayo is one of the councils that have been exemplary in their management of the scarce resource and given the perennial water shortages in this part of the country, it is quite extraordinary that the BCC has averted the pitfalls of disease outbreaks as experienced in other cities such as Harare.

A debate has been raging since council announced that it was going ahead with the installation of prepaid water meters in the city as a way to manage the water situation. The BCC argues that residents are irresponsible and have not been paying their bills with the figure currently standing at $90 million, up from $50 million in 2013 when the Ministry of Local Government directed that all local authorities cancel debts owed to them by residents.

It also further buttresses its argument by saying prepaid meters will force residents to pay for water they actually use as opposed to the current situation where a flawed billing system based on estimates is seen as ripping off ratepayers. The BCC has sweetened its case by saying it will give residents free 5,000 litres of water, hence even people living in poverty would be able to meet their minimum requirements for water.

While we understand and appreciate BCC’s predicament, we feel council should consult widely before rolling out its meters and take into account the needs of the poor and disadvantaged given the current unemployment levels in Bulawayo. Unlike Zesa which has installed prepaid electricity meters throughout the country and is enjoying relative success in recovering money owed to it, the water issue is a bit complicated given the implications of thousands of households going without access to it. The BCC should therefore consider reducing its water charges before implementing its prepaid water meters.

Yesterday, we carried on these pages a report which said the BCC had defied a High court ruling outlawing water disconnections to residents without a court order which a judge found amounted to extortion. Council bosses said going to court was time consuming and too costly while claiming that individuals who defaulted on bills found disconnections were a better evil than having their property attached to recover debts. We beg to differ. We feel council is holding residents to ransom based on a flawed billing system. Given that water is a basic constitutional right, other ways of humanely dealing with the matter can be explored. Attaching residents’ property or arbitrary disconnections in defiance of a standing High court order is the height of arrogance and dereliction of duty to ratepayers. BCC bosses should be reminded that being contemptuous of the courts of the land is a dangerous game as they might need to seek recourse in the judiciary system in the near future. We are not against council charging residents for services rendered such as water, sewer and reticulation.

But payment plans can be worked out with residents to clear their debts. We also support the introduction of prepaid meters as long as they are structured in such a way that they do not radically increase the cost of water.