THE ruling Zanu PF is set to reap election dividends from its government’s partnership with private players in the ongoing Presidential borehole drilling project.
So says chairman of Prevail International – a company that has sunk many solar-powered boreholes to urban and rural communities – in partnership with the government-owned Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa).
This comes as the ruling Zanu PF has been using the borehole drilling project to highlight the rot in opposition-run councils, which have taken searing criticism over acute water shortages in towns and cities.
Prevail International chairman Paul, Tempter Tungwarara, said the ongoing presidential borehole drilling would tilt many votes in favour of the ruling party – especially in areas where the boreholes had mitigated water woes.
Under the programme, Prevail International is aiming to drill a solar-powered borehole in each of the country’s 35 000 villages, including the creation of nutrition gardens featuring a variety of vegetables.
Tungwarara was optimistic that the company would have drilled 1 000 boreholes in rural areas and 100 in Harare before elections.
Each borehole, he said, would be accompanied by two X 10 000 litre storage tanks and four portable water taps.
“We remain on course to meet our target installations. We have received a consignment for 1 000 boreholes, and we are also expecting another consignment next month.
“We are happy to be partnering with the government on this programme as more people who are benefiting in both urban and rural areas now believe in the Second Republic’s policies.
“We are focused on delivering water to our people. Water is life. We are supporting President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s vision of attaining an upper-middle income society by 2030.
“Every citizen in this country, whether in urban or rural areas, is going to access clean water freely.”
This comes as most Chitungwiza residents now have access to clean water following the drilling of boreholes in the town by the government.
Addressing the media in Chitungwiza last week, Tungwarara said the perennial water challenges in the sprawling town were expected to end before the August 23 elections.
“We are leading President Mnangagwa’s borehole scheme across the country. We started with a pilot project last year. We have been embarking on a rural drive to ensure all our people receive the precious commodity.
“We are going to ensure that all eight boreholes in Zengeza East constituency, which were mapped during our pilot project, should be completed before the country goes to the polls,” he said then.
Tungwarara also blamed the Chitungwiza Town Council for “failing to deliver” on its mandate of providing quality services to the local residents, including water supplies.
“For the past 21 years, the opposition-led council here has failed to provide quality service delivery and now is the time to correct the anomaly by voting … Mnangagwa into office and his Zanu PF party. Give them a fresh mandate to govern the country.
“We now appeal to the local community to ensure that these boreholes are clean and secure all the time,” Tungwarara also said.