Zimbabwe’s Sewage Crisis Deepens As Government And Councils Trade Blame

The sound of bursting sewage pipes has become an increasingly familiar and disturbing reality across Zimbabwe’s urban centres, where overflowing effluent, blocked drains, and collapsing sanitation systems are turning high-density suburbs into public health hazards.

From Budiriro to Chitungwiza, raw sewage is no longer viewed as an isolated infrastructure failure but a daily feature of life for thousands of residents living in densely populated communities. Across affected suburbs, residents continue navigating contaminated streets while carrying out ordinary routines, hanging laundry, selling vegetables, and commuting to work as children play dangerously close to pools of sewage-tainted water. Health experts warn that the deteriorating conditions are increasing the risk of waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and dysentery.

Zimbabwe’s worsening sewage crisis sparked heated debate in Parliament this week after Darlington Chigumbu raised concerns over deteriorating sanitation systems affecting urban communities. Responding during parliamentary proceedings, Anxious Masuka, the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources, blamed local authorities for failing to deliver basic services.

“Firstly, I want to thank you because you have noted that there is a problem with elected council representatives. That is where corruption is,” Masuka said.

The minister urged citizens to elect more effective local leadership during future elections.

“The local authorities have a task to do service delivery water, sewage and refuse,” he added.

Masuka argued that the central government had been forced to intervene in urban service delivery due to failures by municipalities.

During the parliamentary debate, Masuka cited the controversial Geo Pomona Waste Management project as an example of government intervention in waste management systems.

“We now have Geo Pomona which intervened by providing service in the removal of waste but council is charging for the service,” Masuka said.

The Geo Pomona waste-to-energy initiative has remained highly contested since its introduction, with the government presenting it as a model for improving urban waste management while critics question transparency, costs, and the impact on local authority powers. Governance analysts say the dispute highlights growing tensions between the central government and opposition-controlled urban councils over control of service delivery.

Urban planning experts say Zimbabwe’s sewer systems were largely constructed during the colonial era for significantly smaller populations and are now under immense pressure due to rapid urbanisation and decades of underinvestment. In many suburbs, residents say sewage pipe bursts have become so frequent that communities have stopped reporting them altogether because repairs are often temporary.

Harare-based urban governance analyst Dr Tafadzwa Muguti said the crisis reflects both infrastructure collapse and governance failures.

“You have ageing sewer infrastructure, rapid urban population growth, limited investment, and political conflict between councils and central government. All these factors combine to create a public health disaster,” he said.

Councils have repeatedly argued that inadequate devolution funding, shortages of foreign currency, and rising operational costs have severely weakened their ability to maintain water and sanitation systems.

In suburbs such as Glen View and Mbare, residents continue living with overflowing sewage streams, blocked drains, and persistent foul smells.

Public health experts warn that recurring disease outbreaks could worsen unless long-term infrastructure rehabilitation programmes are urgently implemented. For many Zimbabweans living in high-density suburbs, the constant stench of sewage has become more than an environmental nuisance it is now a daily reminder of collapsing urban infrastructure and unresolved governance failures.

Zimbabwe sewage crisis