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Mrs Marjorie Munyonga

Auxilia Katongomara, Chronicle Reporter
THE Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) yesterday clarified that it has not completely cut off water supplies to Gwanda town and said there is no need to shut down the town at a time when Cabinet has resolved that the municipality must take over the water treatment plant.

The Water Authority also slammed some politicians in the town for misleading residents and the businesses community by peddling falsehoods.

Zinwa which was responding to threats by stakeholders to shut down Government departments, businesses and educational institutions for fear of an outbreak of diseases, said it was unfortunate that the leadership in the town led by the Mayor councillor Knowledge Ndlovu who chaired the stakeholders’ meeting, was trying to create an impression that the town’s water supplies have been cut when the truth is that Zinwa was just rationing water to the town.

Zinwa Corporate communications and marketing manager, Mrs Marjorie Munyonga said Gwanda mayor as well as the principal of Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Polytechnic, Dr Ngoni Moyo and former Gwanda mayor Cde Rido Mpofu were attempting to politicise the water issue and vainly trying to drag President Mugabe’s name and the entire Government into a dispute between Gwanda Municipality and Zinwa.

“The dispute between Zinwa and Gwanda is well documented and has been brought before the courts at numerous times with the courts always finding in favour of Zinwa, the latest case having been disposed on in May when Gwanda consented to pay Zinwa in excess of $1,8 million. The Municipality owes Zinwa in excess of $10 million. It is worth mentioning that the municipality once ran the water system in the town and later handed the same to Zinwa after running it down,” she said.

Mrs Munyonga said the attempt by the purported stakeholders’ meeting to paint a dire situation in the Matabeleland South capital is unfortunate, taking into account that Zinwa is providing water for 12 hours a day to Gwanda despite the fact that the Municipality is not paying for the water.

She said the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate Cde Muchinguri-Kashiri and her counterpart, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Honourable Saviour Kasukuwere, are already seized with the matter.

Mrs Munyonga said the intervention by the two Ministers has resulted in Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri appointing a commission comprising officials from her Ministry, the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, the Urban Councils’ Association of Zimbabwe and Zinwa to assess Gwanda’s capacity to run the water system it has been publicly agitating to take over for years.

“The mayor is quite aware of these developments that have been unfolding in the past weeks and should be the last person to call for a meeting for purposes of name calling and finger pointing. Zinwa finds such actions to be in contempt of the efforts by the two ministries. For the avoidance of doubt, the mayor is fully aware that Cabinet has already agreed that Gwanda takes over the system and the commission has just been put in place to take care of the procedural and legal steps required to facilitate a smooth take over. This, the mayor is fully aware,” she said.

Mrs Munyonga said Zinwa finds the push for a shutdown in the town as a desperate and needless attempt to undermine the work of the commission appointed by Government.

She said the municipality should allow the committee to do its work without undue pressure in contempt of the efforts by ministers to resolve the long standing dispute between Zinwa and the local authority.

Mrs Munyonga said any attempt to shut down Gwanda should not be premised on the water situation but the advocates should come out clear to the public on their motives and not seek to use Zinwa as a scapegoat.

“The desperate attempt by the “stakeholders” to politicise the whole matter is quite deplorable and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Water is so strategic a resource that we cannot afford to use it to score cheap political goals.

“Zinwa therefore urges the council and its stakeholders to be patient enough to allow the committee set up by the minister to carry out its mandate without hindrance and undue influence by those megaphone negotiations which Gwanda seeks to do,” said Mrs Munyonga.

She said following the intervention by Cde Muchinguri-Kashiri not to cut supplies for the whole town, but ration the resource, Gwanda municipality has also put its own water rationing regime, throttling supplies to certain parts of the town, thereby depriving many residents of the much needed water in the process.

“Council should therefore take full responsibility for this situation they have created and ensure that residents get water,” she said.

@AuxiliaK