The deterioration of water and sanitation service delivery in the city of Harare has led to the outbreak of cholera and other waterborne diseases in the marginalized and high-density areas of Glen View, Budiriro, Mbare, and Dzivarasekwa. For example, the local authority that is mandated to supply water (Harare Municipality) is producing between 380-400 megalitres of water per day against a demand of 1,200 megalitres per day. This water supply deficit has compromised household hygiene patterns and has driven residents towards unsafe water sources such as unprotected wells. This situation is exacerbated by unresponsiveness to repairing sewerage bursts, which in turn has compromised underground water quality, affecting boreholes and wells. In addition, refuse collection has been erratic—out of 46 refuse trucks owned by the local authority, only 6 are operational, which has led to the emergence of illegal dumpsites in corners of streets and marketplaces. These conditions have created fertile ground for disease outbreaks in the city.
Lack of prioritization of WASH issues in both local and national budgets also remains a major challenge, which in turn is amplified by poor revenue collection and corruption at the local level. For example, arbitrary water disconnections can be done by corrupt municipal officers who are interested in soliciting bribes. On the other hand, despite constitutional provisions for the devolution of power, centralization and interference by the national government has curtailed what local authorities can do. Lastly, the lack of coordination between municipal departments—especially the housing, health, water, and planning departments—has led to piecemeal interventions towards addressing entrenched WASH issues.
The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) is a social movement that advocates for quality municipal services and local governance. Serving the 46 municipal boundaries of Harare, CHRA has 39 Ward Committees/Structures as well as partnerships with 7 other Wards. At the local level, CHRA is the Secretariat of the Harare Metropolitan Residents Forum, which is subscribed by 12 Residents Associations. The Forum coordinates local governance as well as environmental and water governance initiatives. In addition, at the national level, CHRA is the Secretariat of the Zimbabwe Union of Residents and Ratepayers Alliance (ZURRA). The Union coordinates the voices and advocacy interventions of Residents Associations nationally. The primary target of CHRA’s advocacy interventions are the residents of Harare (mainly youth and women), the city of Harare (municipality technocrats and councilors), and parliament and government departments.
CHRA also implements the Civic Engagement and Empowerment Project (CEEP) using a human rights-based approach that applies 3 core principles: 1) participation and inclusion, 2) non-discrimination and equality, and 3) accountability and the rule of law. CEEP seeks to transform marginalized citizens from being passive users or consumers of public goods and services, to active rights holders or accountability claimants who can put forward demands and seek justifications and explanations on decisions made by duty bearers. Other CHRA initiatives target participatory budgeting, social accountability, devolution, and local government reform.
In 2020, CHRA won a High Court case that ordered the city of Harare to supply water to its residents during and after the COVID lockdown period and to provide mobile water bowsers. The judgement also ordered the Ministry of Finance to release funds for water treatment chemicals. The court order yielded improvements in water supplies in eastern and northern suburbs (with 750,000 residents) that had not received municipal piped water for more than 10 years. In addition, after the local authority unilaterally closed 32 council clinics, CHRA litigated the issue and the High Court ordered the re-opening of the clinics, leading to improved access to health services for more than 1,200,000 million people. CHRA has also petitioned Parliament on the non-delivery of refuse trucks that were purchased by the local authority—which led to the summoning of the local authority to respond to these issues before Parliament—and has developed an Anti-Corruption policy that is in the process of being adopted by the local authority.
CHRA is also working on improving access to sanitation by constructing toilets, repairing sewerage bursts, maintaining communal toilets, and supporting refuse collection in the city. Recently, CHRA co-created a service delivery monitoring application with the city of Harare municipality, which residents can use to report sewerage bursts, water problems, and more.