Nyazura, Zimbabwe — With Zimbabwe’s railroad network in a massive state of disrepair, a goods train killed the driver and injured three crew members last week, 9th March, after it derailed owing to breaks failure in Nyazura in the country’s Manicaland province as the goods train headed to Beira in Mozambique loaded with chrome ore.
The fatal accident occurred at a curve along a steep stretch at Tsungwezi in Nyazura.
The goods train loaded to the brim with chrome ore was coming from Mutorashanga, apparently a small ferrochrome mining town in Mashonaland West province in Zimbabwe.
Police spokesperson for Rusape district in the vicinity of Nyazura where the accident transpired, Assistant Inspector Muzondiwa Clean, confirmed the accident which happened late on Tuesday.
“The driver of a goods train tried to apply brakes as he approached the curve on the steep stretch around Tsungwezi, but it failed, resulting in the accident,” said Muzondiwa.
Over the decades, Zimbabwe’s rail infrastructure has faced dilapidation due to lack of regular maintenance, resulting in a series of railroad accidents that have claimed hundreds of lives.
Just in December last year, two National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) employees died while seven others were injured when a goods train traveling from Hwange to Bulawayo derailed at Redbank Siding, approximately 40 kilometers outside Bulawayo.
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — The fatal accident of a passenger train which derailed on Sunday, January 3rd near Tanzania’s capital city, Dodoma, killing three people while injuring 66 highlights growing danger and the vulnerability of the railway infrastructure to extreme weather, a local expert has warned.
The accident, which happened at Kigwe village, about 508km from Dar es Salaam, highlights structural weakness of the aging central railway line built in the 1960s.
Climate Change Adaptation
Wilbard Kombe, Professor of Urban Land Management at Ardhi University urged Tanzania authorities to devise measures for climate change mitigation and adaptation to contain natural hazards that frequently destroy railway networks.
According to Kombe sudden torrential rains have the capacity to wash away track beds and make railway crumble.
“We need better strategies to increase the reliability of the rail infrastructure and prove to our neighbors that our train operations get on uninterrupted throughout the rainy season,” Kombe said.
Train transportation, which is heavily relied on by Tanzanians is highly susceptible to flooding triggered by the worsening impacts of climate change.
Recurring Flood Spells
The floods frequently wash away the railway infrastructure forcing trains to derail, and disrupt operations, officials said.
According to Kombe, wet and windy weather can significantly impact the rail network.
“There is the potential for damage to rail tracks caused by debris or fallen trees which could severely impact passenger services,” Kombe said.
Flood water in particular can block the lines with debris, silt, and mud making its way into the track, he stressed.
“The damage that flood water can cause to infrastructure may lead to on-going repairs that can last for weeks even months,” he told Ubuntu Times
New Lease Of Life
While the east African country is determined to give its aging railway network a new lease of life through the construction of the Standard Gauge (SGR) railway along the central corridor, analysts say such efforts are likely to be hampered by the risk of heavy rains hazards.
As part of its broader push to improve the infrastructure for road and railway transportation, Tanzania is implementing multiple projects to tap the potential of a thriving trade with landlocked neighbors.
Landlocked Neighbors
Perched on a lush landscape with vast minerals, agricultural resources, and potential for world class tourism, the east African country plays a pivotal role as a transport hub for its landlocked neighbors including, Rwanda, Burundi, and Zambia, providing unrivaled opportunities for cross-border trade.
As Africa experiences a huge economic recovery with strong growth projections, rail transport is expected to play an important role in the conveyance of freight over long distances. However, the condition of the existing railway networks in Tanzania is poor.
Binilith Mahenge, Dodoma Regional Commissioner, said depending on budgetary allocation the government is determined to build strong rainwater drainage system along major road and railways to withstand the forces of floodwater.
However, critics say railway operators in Tanzania are totally unprepared to deal with the powerful forces of extreme weather which frequently wreak large swathes of rail infrastructure and halt train operations.
Overwhelmed Drainage Systems
Heavy rain can overwhelm the drainage systems on the railway, technically known as culverts and make flooding more likely, experts warned.
“Piles of wet earth, mud, and debris spreading into the track can be a huge problem,” said Kombe.
Climate change is projected to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events thus increasing risks on the railway.
Kombe urged Tanzania authorities to devise a long-term plan to assess flood risks to the railway and identify earth works likely to be flooded thus building a flood-warning database for monitoring the area.
“There are many ways to prepare for and reduce the possibility of flooding, such as deploying flood defense system such as inflatable barriers and clearing branches and leaves from ditches and culverts near the railway,” he said
While local experts had always referred to historical climate data when designing railway transport systems, to help them withstand drainage storms especially extreme weather, Kombe said such data is no longer reliable due to climate change.
Binga — With its classrooms thatched, its walls built using home-made bricks and located in Binga, a remote area in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North Province, Zumana Secondary school apparently stands weighed down by leaking roofs, with the grass thatch gradually falling apart.
Approximately 436 kilometers from Zumana school South-East of Binga, lies yet another perishing school — Melisa secondary, which is in Silobela, an agricultural village located in Kwekwe district in this Southern African nation’s Midlands Province, about 60 kilometers west of Kwekwe town.
One of the classroom blocks with ages-old fading greenish paint stands out without half of its asbestos roofing sheets, blown away by the wind in the previous years, according to local pupils.
“I remember I was doing grade three when the roof was taken away by the wind and I’m in grade seven now,” a 15-year-old school pupil who identified himself as Melusi Mpabanga, told Ubuntu Times.
A wide crack that has taken shape at a classroom at Melisa Secondary School in Silobela in Zimbabwe’s Midlands Province signals the imminent fall of one of the school’s classrooms. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
A teacher who preferred to remain anonymous saying he was forbidden to speak to the media, said, ‘here at Melisa, most of my students have to sit on the cracked floors each time during lessons conducted in classrooms with broken window pens.’
Fearing victimization, yet another teacher at Binga’s Zumana secondary school who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said ‘we have four thatched classrooms which we use for teaching and learning.’
“The thatched classrooms all have leaks and during rainy seasons, learners’ books get destroyed. Teaching at such an institution is really a bad experience. The teachers’ cottages are also grass-thatched and they leak, which makes life unbearable for us,” the Zumana school teacher told Ubuntu Times.
A typically worn-out thatched classroom block at Zumana Secondary School in Binga is pictured in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North Province. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
Yet the sorry state of Zimbabwe’s schools is not only in the remote areas but has also cascaded down to urban areas amid a comatose national economy.
Civil society activists blame authorities for not prioritizing education, instead directing government revenue towards fattening their own pockets.
“For selfish reasons, government leaders are clearly paying zero attention to the sad developments in schools in terms of infrastructures which have collapsed,” Claris Madhuku, who is director of the Platform for Youth Development, a Zimbabwean civil society organization, told Ubuntu Times.
A classroom at Nyatsambo Secondary School in Mhondoro in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West Province has grass growing inside it after years of negligence by authorities even as pupils still use the classroom for lessons. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
Touched by the state of Zimbabwe’s deteriorating schools’ infrastructure seven years after he left office, David Coltart who was the Minister of Education back then, pinned the blame on lack of prioritization of the country’s education system by the authorities here.
“For years, in fact for decades, schools’ infrastructure has been deteriorating because to be frank there is simply insufficient budget being allocated to education; government boasts about the fact that the bulk of the budget goes to education, but in my experience, the amount actually paid out, there is no relationship with the theoretical budget figure; and even that theoretical budget figure is insufficient,” Coltart told Ubuntu Times.
For 2021, Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education received a total allocation of $55,221 billion (in local currency), an equivalent of about 55 million United States dollars.
This to Coltart, is a drop in the ocean.
“If we wish to make education a priority, that needs to be reflected in the amount of money that we spend and there need to be dramatic cutbacks elsewhere, in govt spending,” said Coltart, who is now treasurer-general of Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC Alliance).
One of the schools in Zimbabwe’s Midlands Province in Silobela, Melisa Secondary School stands out with a classroom ridden with cracked floors. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
The Zimbabwean government has however been on record in the media claiming to be making major boosts of the country’s infrastructure in schools.
Earlier this year, Zimbabwe’s Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Edgar Moyo told parliament government was aware of the run-down infrastructure at some schools in the country, saying government continued to prioritize revamping them.
But even as dilapidation haunts Zimbabwe’s schools, government instead boasts of having more schools, about 6,000 primary and secondary schools, according to statistics from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT).
At Zumana Secondary School in Binga in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North Province south of Kariba dam, thatched residence of teachers stands out apparently worn-out, this development way into the 21st century. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
For teachers’ trade unions, even as the regime brags about having multiple schools, it amounts to nothing amidst dereliction of the infrastructure.
“The level of dilapidated infrastructure in schools is not only worrisome but rather pathetic and in a sorrowful state. The infrastructure is basically from the colonial era and not much changes have been effected to go with modern time and in most instances, especially in rural areas, the infrastructure is virtually nonexistent as teachers and learners are forced to conduct lessons in makeshift structures and under trees,” Robson Chere, secretary-general of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), told Ubuntu Times.
Yet as they earn little, Zimbabwean teachers want the best to help them deliver service to the country’s learners.
The lowest-paid teacher in Zimbabwe now earns a monthly salary of $19,975 in local currency, which is the equivalent of 245 USD, with the highest-paid teacher earning 281 USD.
A thatched lanky classroom block built using home-made bricks at Zumana secondary school in Binga in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North Province stands out under the weight of an almost curving roof, this as the school undergoes dilapidation for years now. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
“As a union, we are advocating for an educational equalization fund; our dream is to see a Zimbabwe which provides equal opportunities in education regardless of the location of a learner or school,” Munyaradzi Masiyiwa, ARTUZ deputy Secretary-General, told Ubuntu Times.
But amid dilapidated infrastructure across Zimbabwe’s schools here, Masiyiwa’s may remain a pipe dream, for before, some like Coltart tried with little success to revamp the country’s citadels of education.
“I last made an attempt to tackle the deteriorating schools’ infrastructure in my last year in cabinet in 2013; I developed the schools development project working between UNICEF on the one hand and individual schools on the other and we devised a program whereby money went straight from donors to schools committees and headmasters; I’m not sure how that is running now, but driving around the country, it seems to me there is very little taking place and schools’ infrastructure is collapsing everywhere,” Coltart said.
In every election year, concerns are raised as to whether Ghanaians vote along ethnic lines for the two main political parties (the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party) or if they are influenced by development and policy concerns.
Historically, general data points towards the former. The ethnic strongholds of the left-leaning NDC remain the Volta Region and Northern parts of Ghana, which it wins easily during polls. The much denser Ashanti and Eastern regions of Ghana always turn out for the NPP.
Regions like the Greater Accra Region, where I reside, are less homogeneous and are certain to play the role of kingmakers. No president has won power without winning the Greater Accra Region, which has the highest voter population with 3,529,181 out of the total of 17,029,971.
With funding support from USAID/Ghana, the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) conducted a pre-election survey to gauge the most pressing concerns of citizens. I looked to document the reflection of these findings in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana with photographs over the past year.
From the sample size, 51 percent of the electorate noted concerns with infrastructure development. This is normally a facsimile for roads, which are known to be below standard in most residential parts of Accra.
A driver traverses a stretch of road that is heavily eroded. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesSome inner roads in Accra have suffered from a lack of maintenance over the past two decades. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesThe state of roads like this has been known to spawn “no road, no vote” protests in the past. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
The government all but socially engineered citizen expectations by declaring 2020 the “year of roads” in a bid to boost infrastructure in that sector. It has been pointing to high profile projects as evidence of infrastructure successes.
The marquee project in the region is the $94 million Pokuase interchange which the government expects to be the biggest in West Africa. A major win for the government has also been the progress on the 7.5 km LEKMA road which has made commutes easier for many road users.
The Pokuase interchange is expected to be the biggest in West Africa when completed. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesThe Pokuase interchange will have four tiers connecting to over 20 km of local roads. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesAfter almost three decades, the LEKMA is close to completion. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesThe government wasted no time patting itself on the back following progress on the LEKMA road. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesMany residents fear the rainy season because of the attendant flooding. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesPoor drainage leads to runoff water overcoming homes and streets of residents. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesPoor drainage ultimately comes back to haunt road infrastructure. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesUncovered drains end up getting choked with plastic waste which is certain to lead to flooding. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
But what has remained an infrastructure concern for decades remains the poor drainage network in Accra that has led to perennial flooding in urban areas, sometimes at the cost of lives.
But the drainage system is generally in the shadow of calls for better roads.
Infrastructure projects mean jobs are being created for residents in their vicinity. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesGhana’s informal economy is the largest source of jobs and they are largely untaxed. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesConcerns are raised about how sustainable the jobs most Ghanaians have are. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesGroups of able-bodied men without work are a common sight in Accra. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesGhana’s hailed as one of the fastest-growing economies but Ghanaians want to feel growth in their pockets. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesThe pandemic disrupted businesses that had to comply with health safety protocols. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesA barber looks forlorn having been deprived of a steady stream of customers because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
There is some overlap with the first concern of infrastructure and the second concern of unemployment (46 percent raised this issue) as road projects mean jobs in project areas.
Credible employment figures are hard to come by and whilst the state makes unverified claims about jobs created, there is no denying that the Coronavirus pandemic crippled many businesses. Before the pandemic, the state claimed it had created 2,204,397 jobs.
It is worth noting that Ghana’s economy is largely informal. The Ghana Statistical Service estimates that 86.1 percent of all employment is found in the informal economy; 90.9 percent of women and 81 percent of men.
Fifth on the list of concerns was the management of the economy (20 percent) which also has a bearing on job creation.
Schoolchildren walk into an uncertain future after spending over nine months out of school because of the pandemic. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesSchool compounds, once vibrant with pupils are left barren because of the pandemic. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesChildren play football in Accra during what would have been regular school hours. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
The third most prominent issue for Ghanaians ahead of the polls was education (28 percent).
Whilst the Akufo-Addo administration has been praised for ensuring free-secondary education free, again the Coronavirus pandemic has left most children out of school for almost nine months.
This is expected to deepen inequality and entrench the learning crisis.
Concerns have been raised about the perceived deliberate reduction of Coronavirus testing in Ghana. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesWith the pandemic in mind, researchers have reminded us that fruit bats in Ghana carry strains of Ebola hence the need for preparedness plans. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesHypertension, stroke, diabetes, and cancers are among the top 10 causes of death in Ghana. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
In a year defined by a pandemic, it is also no surprise that health is on this list.
Ghana has seen 323 deaths from the Coronavirus pandemic which is relatively low and most of the questions asked have been about the reduced testing by the state and the lack of significant support for the sciences to safeguard against future pandemics.
The pandemic may also have distracted from other pressing issues in the health space.
Many residents of Accra have to buy potable water from tankers on a weekly basis to ensure basic hygiene. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesResidents in an Accra suburb choose wastewater from a water treatment plant over buying from tankers. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesThe pandemic has meant almost every place of business has made running water available to the public improving hygiene. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesEateries have staff on hand to sanitize the hands of all patrons, something that was not done less than a year ago. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesChanges in health attitudes will be evident with social distancing on election day. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
There was no mention of sanitation in the survey probably because such conditions have improved greatly because of the pandemic.
It is worth noting that the bar was incredibly low in Accra the President continues to be mocked for his failed promise to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa.
But the lack of access to good clean water undoubtedly translates to an increased threat for diseases like cholera.
Nairobi, Kenya November 6, 2020 — Officials from the eight-nation Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) converged in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi to assess the development of the regional infrastructure master plan that is due in December 2020.
The IGAD region has shown to make strides in the development of new regional infrastructure projects such as the Ethiopia-Kenya Power Interconnector and the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
However, leaders argue that underdeveloped infrastructure remains a major constraint in the IGAD region with no regional master plan of priority projects built on the consensus of its member states.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development Regional Infrastructure Master Plan (IRIMP) which began in May 2018 seeks to establish regional infrastructure development for the region to enhance regional physical and economic integration, and in the long run promote trade, movement of goods and persons, and poverty reduction amongst its Member States.
IGAD To Work Closely With Civil Society
Elsadig Abdalla, IGAD Director expressed his delight in the program, affirming commitment to working with the Civil Society and NGOs in the IRIMP project.
“Previously we have been criticized as being too governmental,” Alsadiq told the conference through a speech he read on behalf of the IGAD Executive Secretary, Dr. Workneh Gebeyahu.
The IRIMP comes in to address this, and solve the problem of inadequate and poor regional infrastructure networks, connectivity, and efficiency.
“In this regional study, we have involved all our stakeholders, especially the NGOs because they are the real owners of our interventions and are the ones who have direct connection with our people at the grassroots in our region,” Elsadiq told Ubuntu Times at an interview.
The development of IRIMP is being financed through the support from the African Development Bank (AfDB) with the overarching objective to create an open, unified, regional economic space for private operators – a single market open to competitive entry and well-integrated into the global economy.
Its components will include a network of efficient infrastructure services; transport, energy, and communications.
Patrick Kanyimbo, the AfDB regional integration coordinator, assured the member states of the bank’s support.
“We are excited to be part of this master plan as we believe it will lead to greater investment floors in the region and we hope it also results in increased trade and economic activities among the member states,” Kanyimbo told the conference.
Banking On Africa’s Youth Bulge
Amb Lemoshira, Director at Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the conference that the African continent consists of an informed and technologically-savvy youth bulge, hence the need to put in place the appropriate infrastructure for them to be able to practice the tech skills acquired.
“AfCFTA is a game-changer, we are going to set the pace for our future in three ways. That of our capacity to ease movement, absorb new technologies and optimizing Africa’s youth dividend and potential,” said Amb. Moi Lemoshira.
The master plan constitutes one of the region’s high regional integration priority pillars which we leaders have been looking for since the first revitalization of IGAD in 1996.
Guided with two current initiatives, which are the African plan and the continental development agenda for 2063, IGAD regional infrastructure master plan has been drawn and tailored to fit with continental scenarios for development.
In 2018, IGAD contracted IPE Global Limited in association with Africon Universal Consulting to undertake a comprehensive 18-month study at a cost of $ 3.6 million.
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — The breath-taking moment showing a family taking refuge on a rooftop as floodwater rapidly rushing into a submerging home at a low-lying Msasani neighborhood in Dar es Salaam—destroying furniture, carrying away cooking utensils, tells a grim story.
As heavy rains drizzled in Tanzania’s largest city last week, it triggered floods that engulfed homes, destroyed assets and infrastructures.
“I have lost everything,” said Jumbe Marijani, a resident of Msasani.
A legion of Dar es Salaam residents walk to work due to lack of transport. Credit: Kizito Makoye / Ubuntu Times
According to him, the entire neighborhood was entangled by the floods, making it hard to salvage personal belongings.
The 51-year-old father of six, who lives at the Kinondoni is among many residents who have been rendered homeless due to flooding.
“I have never seen such rains, it was horribly heavy,” said Marijani, whose family is squatting in a make-shift shack while waiting for the water to recede.
“I have incurred huge loss it will take time to recover,” said Marijani.
Africa’s Fastest Growing City
As one of Africa’s fastest-growing cities with nearly 70 percent of its six million inhabitants living in informal settlements, Dar es Salaam is highly vulnerable to flooding which often destroys infrastructures while causing water-borne diarrhea diseases.
Heavy rains twice a year, often cause floods that force thousands of the city’s residents from their homes and cause untold damage to the infrastructures.
A flooded Msimbazi river in Dar es Salaam. Credit: Kizito Makoye / Ubuntu Times
In the Central Business District (CBD) and the Kariakoo business hub, the dilapidated sewage network often becomes overwhelmed during the rainy season—forcing effluents to overflow, exposing people to health hazards.
As authorities grapple with the impacts of climate change, local residents are bearing the heaviest burden due to logistical and infrastructural challenges.
Wastewater Dumping
For Ladislaus Mirindo, a gush of wastewater perpetually flowing from a broken sewer presents a serious health challenge to his family.
“I am quite worried for my children. They don’t have enough space to play, they oftentimes step on this dirty water,” he said.
The father of five, who lives in the Magomeni area, routinely dump the seeping sludge from his toilet in the nearby Msimbazi river.
MotorCyclists negotiate their way through a flooded road. Credit: Kizito Makoye / Ubuntu Times
“We do it at night to avoid being caught,” said 46-year-old Mirindo.
Most people in this squalid slum lack access to better sanitation, officials said.
“It cannot afford to hire a cesspit tanker. It costs around Tanzanian shillings 80,000(US$36) just for a single trip,” said Mirindo who works as a mason.
Rapid Urban Sprawl
As more than half of the world’s population is estimated to be living in cities, according to the United Nation projections, the share is likely to increase to 66 percent by 2050, with about 90 percent of the increase taking place in urban areas in Africa and Asia.
While rapid urbanization creates wealth and reduces poverty, analysts say it creates chaos in cities like Dar es Salaam which is vulnerable to flooding.
A flooded Jangwani neighborhood near the city center. Credit: Kizito Makoye / Ubuntu Times
The smoke-belching city, which generates about 40 percent of Tanzania’s GDP and is poised to become a megacity by 2040 is exposed to many climate change risks notably flooding, sea-level rise, coastal erosion, all of which threaten infrastructure assets worth $5.3 billion, according to the United Nations.
As the number of people living in slums rises, Dar es Salaam epitomizes the growing challenge of dealing with urbanization, natural disasters, and poverty, according to urban planning experts at ICLEI, a network of more than a thousand cities working on sustainable development and resilience issues.
Vulnerability To Disasters
As authorities are grappling to resolve the city’s biggest environmental challenge: flooding, Dar’s low-lying geographical location increases its vulnerability to weather-related disasters.
According to Shahidi wa Maji, a local charity working to promote sustainable water resources, about a quarter-million people in the sprawling Msimbazi valley face serious health risks linked to the river’s “toxic industrial effluent, human sewage, chemicals and abattoir waste.
Strategic Plans
To cope with rapid urban sprawl, city authorities have redrawn a master plan for Dar es Salaam, with the aim to create a Metropolitan Development Authority that would be responsible for planning and infrastructure development including transportation and utilities.
Abubakar Kunenge, the Regional Commissioner for Dar es Salaam said government is working to identify flood-prone areas and draw up preparedness plans and strategic actions, such as installing early warning systems, to improve the people’s ability to respond to disasters and help them recover quickly.
Poor people spent sleepless nights due to floods. Credit: Kizito Makoye / Ubuntu Times
“Our city has lately undergone a huge spatial growth, which cannot cope with the available facilities,” he told Ubuntu Times.
According to him, plans are afoot to mainstream climate change adaptation into existing urban development policies such as building stronger storm-water drainage systems in areas hard-hit by flood as well as relocating afflicted communities from flood risk areas.
Climate Proofing Interventions
However, Silvia Macchi, an associate professor of urban planning at Sapienza University in Italy who has worked on climate change adaptation in Dar es Salaam said enforcing land use policies in cities like this where informal settlements dominate is an uphill struggle.
“Rapid population growth and poor urban planning are the most significant challenges that Dar es Salaam faces.” She said adding “climate-proofing interventions should be carefully assessed against the risk of increasing unbalanced living conditions between different areas”
As part of its efforts to cushion vulnerable communities from disasters, the government relocated 654 families whose homes submerged in water during the 2011 floods.
Experts say the majority of city dwellers who live in flood-prone areas have no choice because they’re poor, even if they know their lives and property are at risk.
A Bulldozer removing mud on the main Morogoro road to allow motorists to pass. Credit: Kizito Makoye / Ubuntu Times
Most slum dwellers consider the rainy season as a temporary thing, they are willing to live with the threat of floods, soon forgetting the misery they’ve been through.
Until today, however much of Tanzania’s urban areas have been what the developmental economist Bohela Lunogelo terms “dysfunctional” characterized by poor infrastructures, lack of formal jobs, and haphazardly built slums.
Weak Regulations
Lack of planning, weak regulations, and the difficulty of obtaining title deeds for land lead cities to grow out rather than up, making commuting longer and costly.
In Dar es Salaam, about three-quarters of inhabitants live in informal settlements like Tandale, a vast, labyrinthine neighborhood of flimsily built concrete houses, where children play hide-and-seek near open sewers and flooding nearly every rainy season leads to outbreaks of diarrhea and cholera.
“My son nearly died from cholera last year, I don’t want to remember the ordeal I was through,” said Mirindo.
HARARE, ZIMBABWE — In 2015, at the age of 14, Mirirai Chaunza lost her parents and two siblings in a road accident in which a bus they traveled in tumbled over after hitting a huge pothole along Harare-Beitbridge road as the family traveled from neighboring South Africa.
Now, Mirirai who survived the disaster — domiciled in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, is the only one left in her family.
To her (Mirirai), the blame rests solely on Harare-Beitbridge highway, due to its derelict state.
“Potholes, narrowness of the road, and all other factors related to the bad shape of the highway has contributed to the loss of so many lives along the highway,” said now 19-year old Mirirai.
Over the years, the Harare-Beitbridge highway has been earmarked for a facelift, with government conducting a number of groundbreaking ceremonies to commence work on the country’s busiest road which connects a number of African countries to South Africa.
Just before his ouster in 2017, late Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe had conducted another groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of works on the popular road, but that never took place anywhere.
With shoddy work done on the country’s tarred roads in Zimbabwe, dereliction is visiting the poor roads, fast converting them into dusty roads. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
Soon after seizing power from Mugabe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa also took to conducting another groundbreaking ceremony to commence work on the Harare-Beitbridge road.
Still, nothing meaningful has happened on the country’s busiest yet deadliest road ever, according to development experts like Millicent Muhombekwa.
“Even as several groundbreaking ceremonies have been held to make sure work commences on roads like Harare-Beitbridge, nothing has really happened so far save for potholes and small tributaries that have begun to emerge on the highway,” said Muhombekwa who holds a degree in development studies from the Women’s University in Africa here in Zimbabwe.
Not only does this country have to contend with poor roads, but the infrastructure at public hospitals as well.
Underfunded road projects have become an eyesore across many places in Zimbabwe mostly in towns and cities. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
For instance, at Parirenyatwa General Hospital, Zimbabwe’s biggest hospital in the capital Harare, the mortuary has become too small to accommodate the dead bodies stashed and piled in the mortuary daily.
“Bodies have to be arranged even on the floor because they can’t fit into the mortuary trays which only accommodate a few bodies; it’s so sad and disgusting,” said a mortuary attendant who requested to remain anonymous for professional reasons.
At the maternity side of the Parirenyatwa hospital, most toilets are broken down and expecting mothers have to bring their own buckets in order to then fetch water to use in maternity wards’ water system ablution facilities.
“Everything about our public hospitals is broken down and dysfunctional; the entire national public hospitals infrastructure here needs complete overhaul in order for the system to work all over again,” an anti-government activist, Elvis Mugari said.
But, even as activists like Mugari are for the overhaul, still, the road to do it is not an easy one.
As such, there are 214 hospitals in Zimbabwe of which 120 are government hospitals run by the Ministry of Health and Child Care while 66 are mission hospitals, with the remaining 32 being privately run.
Meanwhile, laden with a population of approximately 16 million people, Zimbabwe’s government hospital system includes six central hospitals, eight provincial hospitals, and 63 district-level hospitals, with the rest being rural hospitals.
At Harare Central hospital, with the hospital infrastructure falling apart, even work for the medical staff has been made difficult.
“Imagine coming here to attend to a patient who is admitted, but in a ward with a broken ceiling above, broken windows and cracked floors with potholes; it’s pathetic,” said a senior medical doctor working at Harare hospital, requesting to remain anonymous for professional reasons.
Despite inheriting one of the best infrastructures at independence, Zimbabwe’s hospitals have over the decades failed to perform at expected levels like in years before independence due to the country’s struggling economy.
Cars maneuver their way, avoiding potholes in a high-density suburb called Warren Park D in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
Other public hospitals like Neshuro in Mwenezi district south of the country, hardly have running water, with communities in the vicinity of the hospital having to bring water for their admitted patients.
So, to local secondary school teachers in Mwenezi like 46-year old Denis Muzondi, a History teacher at one of the secondary schools in the impoverished districts, Zimbabwe’s healthcare system is in a dire state of decay.
“Our public healthcare infrastructure is on its way to the Iron Age era; we are making history in reverse gear, meaning we are on a return leg to the olden past instead of moving forward in terms of our public healthcare infrastructure,” said Muzondi.
In fact, according to structural engineers in Zimbabwe’s public service like Edwin Mhungu based in the capital Harare, ‘roads and hospital infrastructure are equally derelict across most places countrywide and generally unfit for any use.’
“The condition of Zimbabwe’s road network had deteriorated since the last condition survey a decade ago in 2010,” said Mhungu.
According to the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, only 10 percent of the country’s surfaced (tarred) national road network is in good condition, with 30 percent in poor condition while 57 percent is in fair condition.
Vehicles evade gravel-filled potholes at some road found inside a high-density suburb in Harare, Zimbabwe. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
Yet, making the country’s road network look better would cost a fortune, according to infrastructural financiers in the African region.
Therefore, according to the African Development Bank’s Action Programme for Infrastructure that runs until 2030, Zimbabwe requires 34 billion USD throughout the next decade, meaning Zimbabwe requires approximately 3.4 billion USD every year for the next 10 years to build robust infrastructure in order to catch up with its regional counterparts.
African Development Bank (AfDB) has been on record saying Zimbabwe’s road maintenance alone would require 43 million USD.
As such, for orphaned young women like Mirirai Chaunza, due to the derelict Harare-Beitbridge highway which claimed the lives of the entire members of her family, hope has slithered away.
“Maybe just like my parents and siblings, I will perish on the road one day,” Chaunza said.
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