A grade one pupil at Tafara Primary School in Chipinge East Ward 18 drowned after being
swept away by a flooded gulley river as she walked home from school.
Zimbabwe’s rainy season often comes with flooding and other disasters in some areas and
each year, government is never fully prepared, and never undertakes adequate measures to
prevent the loss of life, property and the internal displacement of people.
In Binga’s Lusulu area, heavy rains left over 200 people homeless after it destroyed over 30
homes.
While the government’s Civil Protection Unit (CPU) responded by distributing maize to the
victims, which was not enough as the victims required more social services and support.
It is, however encouraging that before Cyclone Chalane hit Manicaland during the last week
of December, government, learning from its poor preparedness for Cyclone Idai in March
2019, initiated an evacuation process for those likely to be affected.
More than 700 people were evacuated in Chipinge and Chimanimani, and this helped save
lives. Fortunately, when the Cyclone hit, it caused minimal damage and no lives were lost.
ZPP recommends that government strengthens its early warning systems and accords
adequate resources to the CPU to be able to evacuate and manage floods and other
disasters before they happen.
Government should also strengthen its post-disaster short and long term response
mechanisms. This includes expending resources to cover all the arising humanitarian issues
as well as towards the rebuilding of destroyed infrastructure.
Currently, some people affected by Cyclone Idai in 2019 are still living in tents and
government should expedite the rebuilding of housing infrastructure for these and many
other victims of disasters across the country.
In addition, government should consider relocation of citizens from areas such as some
parts of Binga where floods hit every year.
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