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Cry our beloved Mukuvisi river: where are our responsible authorities
Youth Forum
October 01, 2013

The Mukuvisi River is now one of the dirtiest rivers in the country – a likely victim of residents and businesses dumping waste in the river, “choking it to death”. The river’s waters are now too tainted – especially after passing through Mbare high-density area - with the waste contamination so severe that more than 50 percent of the water is urine, according to the leading researcher, in his usual blunt assessment of the capital’s most prevalent form of water pollution.

Mukuvisi river from its source around Cleveland dam on the eastern part of the city - cutting through the Msasa industrial sites, moves close to the city and snakes its way via the Graniteside and Mbare industrial sites before finally receiving more heavy industrial waste between Highfield and Waterfalls on its way to the larger Manyame River.

In short, Mukuvisi River is dying with dire consequences for the capital city.

The Municipality of Harare has failed to put in place an integrated solid waste management plan effective in stopping disposal of waste into the river. The city has failed to supply clean drinking water to its residents who are falling victim to water-borne diseases such as cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea and typhoid with increasing frequency.

It is a known fact that there are factories dumping their waste into the system and allegations are that fertilizer manufacturer, Zimphos, produces the most pollution that finds its way into Cleveland Dam. The Environmental Management Authority needs to flex its muscles and take corrective measures before it gets out of hand.

Residents’ long-held fears that the river’s water flow has undergone significant decline - a likely victim of pollution - are proving true, with fears it will dry up in the near future, with devastating consequences.

Environmentalists are warning Harare residents to avoid bathing using water from the capital’s most famous river over fears it has been contaminated by industrial and chemical wastes likely to cause skin infections.

Residents should be doing the best they can to revive our wetlands as they feed into the river systems like the Mukuvisi.

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