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Without Toilets, Villagers Fret Over Health Hazards

Pit latrine...Villagers are forced to use open defecation to relieve themselves due to lack of sanitation facilities. Image by Stock photos


BY BOKANI MUDIMBA | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | AUG 10, 2022

Due to a lack of toilets, open defecation has become commonplace at Kachechete village in Hwange and villagers are sitting on a health ticking time bomb.


HWANGE (The Citizen Bulletin) — Marita Moyo, a widowed mother of three in Kachechete village in Hwange district, says she has never had a toilet at her homestead.

“We use fields, bushes, forests and ditches as toilets just like many of our neighbours. We have survived numerous diseases here because of this challenge,” Moyo says.

Moyo is among the estimated 50% of households in Matabeleland North that are forced to use the bush to relieve themselves due to lack of sanitation facilities.

The province is ranked highest on lack of sanitation facilities compared to other provinces, according to the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) 2022 Rural Livelihoods Assessment (RLA) released in July 2022.


“The proportion of households which practised open defecation in Matabeleland North has remained high at 50% as this has been consistently high over the years. Most districts in Matabeleland North had over 50 percent of the households practicing open defecation.”
ZimVac report


Binga and Lupane have the highest proportion in the province with 67% and 61% respectively.

Tsholotsho has 52%, Bubi 43% and Umguza 34% while Nkayi and Hwange are ranked at 49 % respectively.

Nationally, 27% of households practice open defecation.

This is a result of lack of improved sanitation facilities and water sources.

Basic sanitation, which prevents open defecation, is when households have toilets with tap water for washing.

The proportion of rural households which accessed basic sanitation services was 54% across the country, while about 66% had access to improved sanitation.


Lack of access to water is also a cause for concern as the report shows that Matabeleland North has the highest number of people who spend more time queuing for water at available sources.


In rural areas mostly, access to safe water and sanitation remains a major issue. Image by UNICEF


Douglas Musiringofa of United Children of Africa (Unica) which is building toilets for villagers in Chidobe, Hwange, says about a third of households now have toilets in parts of Hwange while the rest still use the bush.

Between 2019 and 2022, Caritas Zimbabwe invested more than US$700 000 on water, sanitation and income generating projects in parts of Hwange district, where toilet construction was a priority.

Hwange Rural District Council Chief Executive Officer Phindile Ncube says improving sanitation is top of the local authority’s agenda.


“We are working on a by-law that will make it mandatory for all new homesteads to first construct a latrine or toilet before they develop their homesteads so as to improve sanitation coverage.”
Phindile Ncube, Hwange RDC CEO


ALSO READ: Smallholder Farmers Struggle to Access Mainstream Markets


Zimbabwe’s new national housing policy mandates the provision of services such as water and sewer on site before the construction of houses to curb open defecation.


*Edited by Lizwe Sebatha | Fact Checked & Proofread by Melody Mpande | Reviewed & Commissioned by Divine Dube.


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