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Muzarabani folks grappling with the ‘ghosts’ of 2007 floods

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VILLAGERS in Muzarabani North in Mashonaland Central province are still battling the effects of heavy storms that swept through the rural outpost during the 2007 and 2008 cropping season.

VILLAGERS in Muzarabani North in Mashonaland Central province are still battling the effects of heavy storms that swept through the rural outpost during the 2007 and 2008 cropping season.

Phillip Chidavaenzi

This is because much of the infrastructure extensively destroyed during the floods has remained in a state of disrepair.

The rains affected several areas including Chadereka, Utete, Machaya, Hoya and Maungaunga making it impossible for villagers to access key social amenities during the rainy season.

A recent tour of Muzarabani, 289km from the capital, Harare, showed that while this far–flung settlement in northern Zimbabwe— lying in the Zambezi escarpment including Mbire, Mt Darwin and Mukumbura — has arable soils, the rage of nature and political negligence have stalled development.

Several bridges that were damaged or swept away during the floods, notably Hoya River Bridge which links Muzarabani to Mukumbura, Nzoumvunda which bridges Chadereka and Chimoyo as well as the Kadzurure River Bridge connecting Muzarabani and the Dambakurima communal areas are yet to be repaired.

According to Gloria Kanyemba, a resident of Chadereka, the rains that have been falling since end of last year have flooded rivers in the area and, consequently, disrupted the rhythm of life.

She recalled that in 2007, a litany of houses and fields in 14 villages were destroyed in the torrents. Although some families relocated to higher ground out of the water’s reach, the majority have remained in the mudflat due to cash constraints and are still paying the price.

Kanyemba told NewsDay that nature seemed to be dictating the school calendar because most pupils stayed at home whenever it rained. “There are just a few children going to school because of the floods,” she said.

“Others have been cut off because they can’t cross the flooded rivers.”

Sarudzai Marisa of Chimoyo Village also said she was worried that children’s education was being hampered by their inability to attend school.

“It’s now normal that when it rains, children spend weeks at home because the rivers will be flooded,” she said.

There are just seven primary schools and four secondary schools serving 14 constituencies in Muzarabani North.

None of the secondary schools — Hwata, Muzarabani, Dambakurima and Chadereka — offers Advanced Level studies and those who pass their ‘O’ Levels have to fight for places at St Albert’s Secondary School with other candidates from as far as Harare.

The Catholic–run school was at number 54 in the top 100 of schools with the best Zimsec ‘O’ Level results for the 2013 examinations.

Wrestling the demon of hunger MUZARABANI North has arable land in which maize and cotton — traditionally regarded as white gold —flourish. It is, however, a recipient of little rain and experiences very high temperatures, averaging between 39 and 40 degrees.

Dry spells often experienced during the rainy season often play havoc with the maize crop, something that forced villagers to resort to stream bank cultivation.

Netsai Kabaya said there was wide spread hunger in the area after many people lost their crops after rivers flooded.

“The situation is bad,” she said. “Sometimes we have to go to bed on empty stomachs because there is no food.”

Stream bank cultivation was pursued with religious tenacity as villagers were aware that if the rains stopped for two days or more, the maize crop would dry up and the crop in the riverbank was guaranteed survival as it defied the dry spells so they opted for the riverside which did not dry up even if the rains ceased for several days.

In a desperate bid to contain the ravages of hunger, many villagers were selling their livestock at give away prices to raise money for food and other needs. Chickens were pegged between $2 and $5 while goats were fetching between $8 and $15.

“Most of us who have not gone to the high lands after the 2007 floods lost our crop and there is so much hunger. We are selling goats for as little as $8,” Miriam Chipuriro said.

Some expecting mothers came to the local clinic with chickens to sell so they could raise the clinic fees. While a beast fetched between $50 and $200, some hard–pressed villagers were parting with a heifer for just four buckets of maize.More than 10 trucks are seen daily driving away with the beasts.

Muzarabani North MP Alfred Mufunga (Zanu PF) told NewsDay that he would work to ensure that villagers got fair prices for their livestock as they were being ripped off by livestock dealers.

“People are giving away their cattle in exchange of three bags of maize,” Mufunga said. “It’s so bad that some have resorted to selling their cattle at night for fear of being laughed at by neighbours.”

The widespread hunger has become a festering sore on his conscience. He said he was working towards establishing an abattoir in the area so that farmers would get value for their livestock.

Business at Msengezi suffer from knock–off effects

A member of the Civil Protection Unit at Msengezi, Lovemore Katsa, said businesspeople in the area were paying a big price for the poor road network.

“Many businesspeople have to travel many kilometres to collect their stock because buses no longer reach this place because of the poor road network,” he said.

For many local businesspeople, this is like a life lived in arrears, with business proving tough most of the times.

“When our stock runs out during the rainy season we have to wait for longer periods of time before we can have access to merchandise,” Nathan Zuze said.

MP Mufunga also admitted that the problem of roads was giving him sleepless nights and he was hoping that he will woo corporates to lend a hand.

“The government has so far availed a grader and we hope that soon, the roads will be in a good, usable condition,” he said.

The road between Machaya and Chibondo in Musingwa District, about 7km from Msengezi, last had gra

Contending with the crocodile menace

THE major reason most parents opted to keep their children from attending school was that once the rivers flooded, they brought with them the menace of crocodiles and hippopotamuses that abound in Msengezi River.

Stephen Patukeni of Chadereka Village, who successfully waded off a crocodile attack in a breathtaking escape early this month, said the events of that horror moment in which he came short of losing his life were deeply etched in his memory.

A professional fisherman reputed as a veteran of the waters, Patukeni, was still recovering following his tussle with the marine beast at Musengezi River during which he sustained deep injuries on his left hand, waist and backside.

“I am recovering well, but I still feel some pain now and again,” said the fishmonger, who was caught completely off–guard by the reptile.

“I was just lucky to escape. When I cried out for help, the crocodile tried to pull me deeper into the water. I cried out for help as I struggled with it before it tore off my trousers. That’s what saved me.”

After dashing for the shoreline, he said, a cloud of darkness engulfed him and he fell into unconsciousness, after which he was rescued by a passersby.

Villagers cut off from health facilities EXPECTING mothers were particularly angry that should they get due to give birth during the rainy season, they would be in serious trouble. The only local clinic where they could be attended to is situated between the flood–prone Hoya and Nzoumvunda Rivers.

Marisa said they have resorted to using a makeshift bridge, but there were widespread fears that they pose a risk to sick people trying to access the clinic and could easily slip and fall into the river.

“Our cry is that we need to have our bridges re-constructed so that people can have easy access to schools and the clinic during the rainy season,” she said.

Utete Ward, located 16,5km from Muzarabani, has no clinic of its own and efforts are underway to establish a clinic after renovating an old, dilapidated structure formerly used as a Practical Skills Development Centre. Those in need of a hospital were forced to travel nearly 45km to St Albert’s Mission Hospital.

Mufunga, the legislator, said he wrote to Cottco, Cargil and SinoZimbabwe, all of which have vibrant enterprises in the area, to chip in and provide corporate social responsibility programmes.

“I have written to the cotton companies to assist us with diesel because according to ZimAsset, such companies should plough back into the community,” Mufunga said. “Cargil has so far given us 200 litres of diesel while Cottco has also indicated willingness to assist in the re-construction of bridges.”

While Mufunga is still fairly new, it remained to be seen whether or not he would be able to succeed where all his predecessors have failed.

But from what villagers told NewsDay, they have invested their faith in him since he was born, and grew up, in Muzarabani, where they also said he spent most of his time interacting with them. He was reputed for pursuing a development agenda with religious zeal.