Mugabe’s Clean Water Record: FAIL!

Downtown Harare  Image via Wikipedia

The death toll in Zimbabwe’s recent cholera outbreak is over 500. The water borne disease has claimed victims throughout the country. Nearly 11,000 people have been infected in the past few weeks. Remote areas report a fatality rate up to 30%. Neighboring Botswana and South Africa are poised to be next.

Cholera has been well under control in this region of Africa for several decades. In the last 10 years, cholera returned with an annual outbreak in the country. Now, as the southern hemisphere nears summer, the outbreak could claim more than in 1992 when 2,000 died.

Zimbabwe was once the bread basket of Africa. Food was plentiful, the economy was thriving and diseases like cholera were not a problem. Good sanitation and clean water wipe out cholera.

So what happened? The country’s sanitation system is collapsing. The water utility in the capital, Harare, has run out of chemicals to treat the water. Throughout the country, electricity is scarce. People can’t boil the water so they just use it.

All this can be traced back to Robert Mugabe. He intends to be president no matter what anybody says. He’s done everything he can to keep power. Lately, he has refused to use that power for the good of the people. His dictatorship has brought famine, debt and disease.

Unfortunately, Robert Mugabe has provided a clear example of the relationship between good government and clean water. Zimbabwe, currently, has neither.

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