A stream of sewage in front of the public library and Zimdef building in Bulawayo's Central Business District
Alert – BPRA Weekend Activities (6 & 7 October 2012)
Bulawayo Progressive
Residents Association (BPRA) will on Saturday this weekend (6 October 2012) be
holding two consultative meetings at Lobengula Hall in Ward 14 and Inzwananzi
Primary School in Gwabalanda (ward 16) to discuss the water situation in
Bulawayo. The meetings will provide residents in the areas with an opportunity
to discuss their views on the water crisis with their councillors and BPRA
representatives. BPRA is engaged in a campaign on the water crisis that is
meant to ensure that residents are aware of the graveness of the water crisis
in Bulawayo and act to conserve water. The campaign also aims at pressuring BCC
and the government to act to solve the water crisis and prevent outbreak of
diseases such as cholera and typhoid, while acting as a conduit for the airing
of the views of residents on the issue. The campaign includes monitoring of the
water situation in the city and its effects on the lives of residents, and
dissemination of information to residents on the gravity of the situation
The schedule for the
activities is as follows:
Consultative meetings on Bulawayo’s Water Crisis
|
Date
|
Ward and Area
|
Venue
|
Time
|
|
Sat 6 Oct 2012
|
Ward 16 – Gwabalanda
|
Inzwananzi Primary
School
|
2pm to 5pm
|
|
Sat 6 Oct 2012
|
Ward 14 – Lobengula
|
Lobengula Hall
|
2pm to 5 pm
|
Regards
Information Department
Bulawayo
Progressive Residents Association
Bus. Tel: +263 9 61196
Cell: +263 772 516 729
Alert - Pumula South, Emganwini residents call for electricity
BULAWAYO
residents have expressed concerns that Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
(ZESA) is failing to supply some residential areas with electricity, many years
after their houses were built. There are many suburbs in Bulawayo that have
spent many years without electricity.
Pumula South (Phase 2) residents complained that they have spent more than
eight years without electricity. The residents revealed that they had even paid
some money towards erection of poles for electricity cables more than three
years ago, but to date no action has been taken by the power utility company to
avail them with power. The residents also reported that last year ZESA
employees came and collected transformers in their area and connected them to
another Pumula South section that now has electricity. Residents said this was
raising suspicions of corruption in the operations of ZESA as it seems to be
giving preference to other residents. The residents expressed concerns that unavailability
of electricity had led to many accidents in the area with people losing
property to fires caused by candles and paraffin stoves.
In
Emganwini, residents resettled under the Millennium Housing Scheme have faced similar
challenges to those faced by Pumula South residents. The residents have spent
eight years without electricity. The residents told Bulawayo Progressive
Residents Association (BPRA) that they are spending as much as three dollars
per day on firewood, or opt to look for firewood at the nearby bushes, which is
illegal and warrants a fine from local authority employees. The residents also
said young girls were exposed to sexual abuse in the bushes while looking for
firewood.
BPRA
therefore calls upon ZESA to make an effort to ensure that all residential
areas that do not have access to electricity are connected. The ZESA authorities
have to make sure that they distribute the available electricity in the country
fairly among residents as electricity is a necessity for all in a modern
society.
Regards
Information
Department
Bulawayo Progressive
Residents Association
Bus.
Tel: +263 9 61196
Cell:
+263 772 516 729
Alert – Normal Rains only Hope for Residents
BULAWAYO residents have only the next rainy season as
their hope for an end to the current water crisis as the completion of the
Mtshabezi pipeline and the augmentation of supplies from the Nyamandlovu aquifer
will only shelve the increasing of water shedding from the current 72 hours a
week. Speaking during a tour of the Umzingwane Dam and Mtshabezi pipeline on
Friday 21 September 2012, Bulawayo City Council (BCC) officials said the
completion of the Mtshabezi pipeline, which will provide Bulawayo with an
additional 17 000 cubic metres of water per day, would not lead to a reduction in
water shedding, but would only ameliorate the current crisis by deferring
increasing of water shedding to 96 hours per week or more. This means that the
current water crisis in Bulawayo will only end if the city’s supply dams,
Umzingwane, Lower Ncema, Upper Ncema, Inyankuni and Insiza receive significant
inflows during the oncoming rainy season. If rainfalls are low, then the water
crisis will persist and worsen, necessitating increased water shedding ultimately
spelling disaster for the city. This would worsen the plight of residents, who
are already reeling from the current 3 days per week water shedding amid
complaints that some residential areas are facing water cuts for longer periods
than indicated in the water shedding timetable.
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) thus
believes that there is a need for concerted efforts by Bulawayo residents to
use water sparingly to stretch the available supplies until dams receive
significant inflows. To facilitate this, there is need for BCC to step up its water
conservation campaign so that residents realize that they have a role to play
in ensuring that water supplies last. The association believes a vibrant water
conservation awareness campaign is a better option than increasing water
shedding as the current water shedding is already drastic and has infringed on
the rights of residents to access clean water, posing a health hazard. Also,
there is a need for the speedy completion of the Mtshabezi pipeline and resuscitation
of boreholes at the Nyamandlovu aquifer to improve the situation. It is BPRA’s contention that once the current
crisis is over, efforts should turn towards the duplication of the Insiza
pipeline and the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (NMZWP) to ensure
that there is never a repeat of such a crisis. Dillydallying by the government
and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) on the implementation of
strategies to end Bulawayo’s water crisis should end immediately.
Regards
Information Department
Bulawayo
Progressive Residents Association
Bus. Tel: +263 9 61196
Cell: +263 772 516 729
Press Release - BPRA Hosts Peace Day Concert
Date: 18 September 2012
Contact:
Emmanuel Ndlovu
Programmes
and Advocacy Manager
Bulawayo
Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)
BULAWAYO Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) will
on Saturday 22 September 2012 hold a concert at the Large City Hall from 2pm to 5pm to commemorate the International
Day of Peace, a day which is observed worldwide on 21 September each year. The
theme for this year’s commemorations is ‘Sustainable Peace for a Sustainable
Future.’ The concert will feature the play “1983: The Years Before and
After” by Jahunda Community Arts, and music and dance from artistes including
Siyaya Arts, Umdumo WeSizwe, Black Umfolosi, Jays Marabini, Willie Watafi,
Simon Banda and Family Voices.
BPRA is holding the concert as part of its Residents
Building Peaceful Communities Project that aims at instilling a culture of
peaceful coexistence among residents in Bulawayo regardless of differences in
political persuasion, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity. As part of the
project, the association has held various community dialogue meetings and
leadership fora that have brought together residents’ leaders, political party
representatives and church leaders to discuss issues to do with peace building
and reconciliation in Bulawayo.
The concert to be held on the International Day of
Peace will seek to promote peace and tranquility through music, theatre and
dance. The concert will seek to unite Bulawayo residents on the common values
of peace and harmony, realizing that a sustainable future for not only
Bulawayo, but Zimbabwe at large is only possible if there is peace in the
country.
The International Day of Peace was initiated by the
United Nations (UN) in September 1981. The occasion has since been declared by
the General Assembly of the UN as “a day devoted to strengthening the ideal of
peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.”
Regards
................................................
Mr Emmanuel Ndlovu
Programmes and Advocacy Manager
Press Release - Children Should Not be Chased from School
Date: 4 September 2012
Contact:
Emmanuel Ndlovu
Programmes
and Advocacy Manager
Bulawayo
Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)
BULAWAYO Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) is calling
upon the Ministry of Education to ensure that children are not chased away from
school for failure to pay fees when the new term commences next week. The
association has noted with concern in the past that schools deny children who
have not paid fees access to school despite ministerial directives that this
should not be done. This has meant that children from poor families – child
headed families, families headed by senior citizens and families headed by
labour constrained parents – have been denied access to education which is a
human rights violation. Even children with working parents and guardians have
been affected as most people feel the pressure from the economy, which is
characterized by low salaries and liquidity problems.
BPRA thus calls upon the Ministry of Education to put
measures in place to ensure that children are not chased away from school. The
association welcomes announcements that as a policy, the government prohibits
school heads from denying children access to school and from increasing school
fees. However, efforts should be put in place to monitor the conduct of school
authorities to ensure that they adhere to directives from the ministry of
education. BPRA believes that schools should engage with parents and leave
children alone to pursue their studies. After all, schools enter into contracts
with parents and guardians, meaning that children should not be affected in the
event their parents or guardians fail to settle their tuition.
When schools open next week, BPRA will be monitoring schools
in Bulawayo to ensure that children are not being chased from school. The
association will as usual seek legal assistance to ensure that any schools that
send children away, allow them to return to class or face legal proceedings.
Regards
................................................
Mr Emmanuel Ndlovu
Programmes and Advocacy Manager
Opinion - Access to Information Crucial for Monitoring Government Projects
By Zibusiso Dube
ONE of the major
impediments to the success of government projects in Zimbabwe is lack of
adequate access to information. Lack of information is also responsible for
poor service delivery and rampant corruption in the country. Unless it is
realised that information availability is an important component of ensuring
transparency and accountability in the operations of holders of public office
and government institutions, the people of Zimbabwe will continue receiving
sub-standard services from the government and local authorities while
development projects will continue failing to achieve the desired goals. It is
high time efforts are made to ensure that dissemination of information becomes
part and parcel of the operations of public bodies, local authorities and
government departments as part of the broader goal of improving provision of
public services, improving the success
rate of public projects and dealing with corruption in public institutions.
As a starting point, it
would be useful for Zimbabweans to realise that the discourse on access to
information should not be limited to the media and the operations of
journalists as is currently happening. Of course journalists should have access
to public information so that they can disseminate it to the benefit of the
larger populace, however, access to information should be recognised as a right
that should be afforded to all residents. It is everyone’s right to access
information, because information is an empowerment tool that enables a person
to be better equipped to deal with his day to day life, and in the parlance of
democratic discourse, make informed political choices that have a bearing on
his/her livelihood. For instance residents in a community should have access to
the budgets of the local authority so that they can monitor the conduct of the
authority and ensure that enough funds are set aside for service provision that
meets the socio-economic rights of residents. Also, residents in a community
should have access to information on government projects that are operational
in their area. This would enable them, in their localities, to monitor the
progress and implementation of such projects to ensure that the projects are
benefitting the intended beneficiaries and also to ensure that there is no
corruption in the implementation of the projects.
The negative effects of
lack of adequate access to information in Zimbabwe abound. According to
Transparency International, Zimbabwe ranked 154 out of 182 countries in a
survey on corruption in 2011. This means that corruption is a big problem in
the country. Also, many government projects, including Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle,
the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) and more recently the Harmonised
Social Cash Transfer Programme (HSCTP) are dogged by controversy with citizens
alleging corruption in their operations. For instance, it is argued that BEAM,
which is a programme that is meant to benefit orphans and vulnerable children
by paying their tuition is also benefitting the children of teachers and other
connected people while many orphans and children from poor families fail to
attend school. While these allegations may sometimes border on conspiracy due
to the unavailability of evidence, what is clear is that efforts should be made
to improve accountability and transparency in government and local authority projects.
Ensuring adequate access to information to residents is the way to do so.
Improving residents’ access to information is also a key way to deal with
corruption.
So how can Zimbabwe
improve access to information? The answer lies in the law. The only tool that
the government has at its disposal to ensure that public bodies, government
departments and local governments afford residents access to information is the
law. Through the law, the government can ensure that institutions behave in a
manner that will promote transparency and accountability – actively providing residents
with information. But the problem that the country faces is that the government
has historically been reluctant to provide Zimbabweans with information.
Instead of affording residents access to information, the government has
established draconian laws that inhibit access to information. These laws
include the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and the inappropriately named Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). The government’s reasoning
is not hard to follow. Access to information empowers people at the grassroots
level and is therefore thought to reduce the power hold of the government. But
this is a myth. Affording people access to information, in the process
empowering them does not weaken the government. It instead enhances the
development process by empowering people to make informed choices and by
increasing accountability and transparency in the operations of public
officials thus putting a lead on corruption. In any case, how does availing
information such as council budgets, the state budget, information on
government projects, registers of listed companies in an area or cadastres
constitute a risk to the primacy of the state?
This is an opportune
moment in Zimbabwe’s history, as the country is in a political transition, to
begin a process of ensuring that residents in all localities are actively afforded
access to information on critical issues affecting their lives. Access to
information should become a major point of discussion in the current body
politic in the same manner that the issues of devolution of power and de-politicisation
of the security forces have been. The concessionary environment characterising
political discourses at the moment creates an opportunity for advocates of
access to information to put the topic on the national agenda. And the kind of
access to information advocated for in this article is not at odds with the
ideologies of any sober minded Zimbabweans. Unless of course if political
struggles in the country are not decided on democratic principles but on
hoodwinking the masses, using among other tools the ignorance of citizens.
Zibusiso
Dube is the Information Manager at Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association
(BPRA). He writes in his personal capacity. He can be contacted on
dubezibusiso@gmail.com
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