Kunzvi Dam has been on the drawing board from as far back as the 1990s, when the then Department of Water Development put forward plans for the construction of a new reservoir on Nyaguwe River to serve Harare and its satellite towns.
NEWSDAY EDITORIAL
By that time, it was anticipated that Lake Chivero and Manyame Dam as well as the smaller Harava and Seke dams would not meet the demand for water in Harare due to the growing population.
But two decades later, Kunzvi is still a pipe dream with the government appearing to be dithering and doing nothing to ensure that Harare gets another reliable water source to address the water crisis.
The capital city has been grappling with the water crisis for many years resulting in the increase in water-borne diseases including dysentery, diarrhoea and even cholera, which claimed around 4 500 people countrywide in 2008.
It is, therefore, comforting – at least for now – to learn that government has cancelled the $400 million tender for the construction of Kunzvi Dam with a view to awarding the tender to more serious firms with the financial capacity to build the long-overdue dam. Government said it would put Kunzvi Dam construction on a special tendering process alongside 12 other mega dam projects in an effort to deal with the precarious water situation prevailing in the country.
One of the reasons for the cancellation of the tenders is that firms that were given the projects were holding onto them for speculative purposes.
Circumstances, under which the contractor for the Kunzvi project was engaged were also shrouded in mystery amid reports that the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) was being scrutinised for alleged flouting of tender processes in what appears to be another major scandal.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Initially government awarded the multi-million dollar tender for the construction of the dam to China Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic and Technology Co-operation in 2007 ahead of five local bidders without any reasons given.
But in 2012, the project was taken over by Kunzvi Water Development Corporation, a consortium headed by businessman John Mapondera, before it was cancelled this week.
It is Zimbabweans’ fervent hope that this time around only serious firms with the requisite qualifications and capacity will be considered for the tenders otherwise Kunzvi and the other projects would remain a mirage.The tender process should be done in a transparent and accountable manner.
Failure by those contracted to build Kunzvi clearly showed that some of our powerful businesspeople are not entrepreneurs at all.
They are instead “tenderpreneurs” who masquerade as legitimate businesspersons using political contacts to secure lucrative government contracts. Tender corruption was pivotal in the collapse of the economy as underserving companies were awarded key contracts including building dams, roads, schools and hospitals, but failed to deliver.
These tender scams have rocked various other government departments and parastatals including, but not limited to Zesa, ZBC, Zinara and the State Procurement Board (SPB). These scams should be stopped for the benefit of the country.
Officials, be it Cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries, parastatal CEOs or at the SPB, should refrain from using power and connections to influence the issuing of tenders. Companies or individuals should also refrain from getting tenders that they do not qualify for or deserve.
Officials who award contracts to unsuitable bidders should also be held accountable.
