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VP Mnangagwa

Daniel Nemukuyu: Senior Reporter

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has urged farmers allocated land near water bodies to utilise the water or risk losing their farms to more serious and productive farmers who are useful in promoting Command Agriculture.Officiating at the launch of the emergency drought response programme in Harare yesterday, VP Mnangagwa said Government was spending billions in constructing and maintaining dams that are being underutilised.

“As Government, we also remain concerned with the underutilisation of water in a number of dams across the country. “The uptake of irrigation water by some farmers has been worrying over the years, with dams such as Mazvikadei, Darwendale, Biri, Wenimbi, Rufaro, Nyambuya, Rusape, Ruti and others remaining underutilised throughout the year.

“This is worrying, taking into account the billions of dollars that Government invested in putting up the dams and the amounts that ZINWA loses in maintenance costs,” said VP Mnangagwa.

In the spirit of promoting Command Agriculture, VP Mnangagwa said such idle farmers risk being evicted to pave way for those who are productive.

“It is for this reason that Government has also taken issue with some farmers who have land near water bodies, but are not utilising it. These farmers may have to pave way for those willing to use the water under Command Agriculture.

“There are people who stay closer to dams and instead of utilising the now scarce resource, they are always seen admiring it. Some enjoy driving to the dams with boats on top of their vehicles, where they will play and splash water on each other. That is not the reason why we spent fortunes on the construction of dams. We will remove you there and replace you with serious farmers,” said the VP.

Speaking at the same occasion, Buhera South legislator Cde Joseph Chinotimba said the El Nino-induced drought had caused serious water woes in most rural communities, with women and children being the worst affected.

Cde Chinotimba said in Buhera most waterholes had dried up and people were now competing with baboons for the scarce water.

“Boreholes have no water in Buhera South. People spend the day drawing water from the few available boreholes and as soon as they leave, baboons, snakes and other animals take over, drinking water that would have spilt there,” he said.

Cde Chinotimba said Government must allocate more money to the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate, considering it has a huge task in trying to mitigate the effects of drought.

“Vice President Mnangagwa, we request you to consider allocating more money to the Water Ministry. It does not make sense for the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to allocate equal vote to the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate and the Ministry of Lands.

“The Ministry of Lands, which only counts footsteps and say ‘Chinotimba do your farming on this piece of land’ cannot have the same budget with the Environment, Water and Climate Ministry in a situation where Government declared drought a national disaster,” he said.

Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri urged all stakeholders to collectively manage activities like stream bank cultivation, riverbank mining and others that pollute the water and damage the environment.

“Our rivers are being polluted. Miners are on the forefront polluting the rivers. Mercury, which is used for mining is being deposited into our water bodies, killing fish. The fish is also being eaten by people who end up having health problems.

“Private companies in towns dump toxic waste into water bodies while local authorities watch. “All stakeholders must now come together and collectively come up with measures to curb water pollution,” said Minister Muchinguri.