Public service institutions unable to operate

By Tererai Karimakwenda
11 January 2007

The lack of adequate water and electricity which has plagued many parts of the country is not likely to be resolved any time soon. With the general economic crisis and political chaos there has come a serious lack of resources that has left many service institutions unable to operate. Power and water cuts are also contributing to a decline in production. And fuel shortages are hampering the movement of much needed food and other basic products.

The Crisis Coalition released a statement Thursday which said there was a governance crisis in Zimbabwe. Part of it read: “The policy failures mainly characterized by the breakdown of the rule of law, lack of respect of property rights, thriving corruption within the public sector, lack of transparency , accountability and the belief in violence as a tool to silence critics by the government has led to such unfavourable statistics.”

The situation in Bulawayo is one such example. The city has not had consistent water or power supplies for a long time, but the end of 2006 and beginning of 2007 have seen the situation deteriorate even further. Bulawayo businessman Eddie Cross reported that there was a marked deterioration in power supplies this week. He said on Tuesday the City was without power for most of the day and feared that factories due to open on Monday would increase demand.

Heavy rains belted the Bulawayo area recently damaging power and water equipment in many parts of the city. Xolani Zitha, a coordinator at Bulawayo Agenda said the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) failed to respond within a reasonable length of time. Trees that fell were blocking roads for days. And given the ongoing shortages of fuel, prolonged response times by all service providers are nothing new. Zitha said the lack of resources at public service institutions exacerbates problems that would otherwise be resolved quite easily.

There does not seem to be a solution to the crisis in the country that does not involve wholesale political change. Businesses do not feel secure while government enforces price controls and continues to arrest owners and managers. As a result no-one will invest in this unstable climate. Without foreign currency and without confidence in our country by investors, resources will remain scarce and the situation will continue to deteriorate.