A senior official with a local non-governmental organisation, Institute of Water and Sanitation Development, has claimed Zimbabweans were being shunned by members of the international community who associate them with dirt and disease.
Speaking at an anti-litter workshop in Harare on Thursday, Noma Neseni, the organisations executive director, said Zimbabweans status at international events had slumped due to the negative perceptions built around the countrys battered image.
We have even stopped being asked to speak at events. We are invited to sit and listen but not to speak. People connect Zimbabwe to cholera or typhoid, diseases caused by dirt.
No matter how educated you are or whether you are from MDC-T, MDC-M, Zanu PF or (Dumiso) Dabengwas Zapu, as long as you are Zimbabwean, you are all painted with the same brush. The bottom line is our attitude to development, Neseni said.
The workshop was co-hosted by Harares water department and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirais Office.
Delegates to the workshop later toured the Firle Sewerage Treatment Plant, Harares biggest sewerage plant, which is currently undergoing a massive $8 million facelift.
Meanwhile, Tsvangirai is next month expected to officially launch a government programme to conserve water.
The launch will be held in Budiriro suburb.
