WINDHOEK/KATIMA MULILO – More than 40 people in the informal settlements of Choto of Katima Mulilo were left homeless after rainwater submerged their houses. Four houses partially collapsed as a result of the rain-drenched ground and strong winds that accompanied the heavy rains that have been pouring down almost every day since before Christmas Eve in the Zambezi Region.
The town council of Katima Mulilo said it has registered about 46 households for possible relocation. According to information obtained from the town council, tents and transportation to the site where households will be relocated will be provided. A site close to the Zambezi Vocational Training Centre has been identified for relocation.
Patricia Simataa is one of the residents whose house was damaged as a result of the rains. Simataa, who related her ordeal to New Era, said she was in her living room watching television in the morning when the entire wall of one side of the house fell over leaving her house open. “There is damage to my property as you can see. When I woke up in the morning the wall fell over. This house is not so strong. I registered myself and council said we are going to be provided with tents,” said Simataa.
Even though the rains have posed a danger to the residents of Choto and other informal settlements whose houses face the danger of being flooded, they have been welcomed by farmers whose fears of yet another drought have seemingly waned.
Zambezi Regional Council Chairperson and Kabbe North and South Constituency Councillor, Raphael Mbala, on Friday confirmed the catastrophe, saying houses at the informal settlement are under water because the water does not flow away due to the lack of a drainage system.
“Chotto is under serious threat because there is no drainage system for the water to flow. Hence the water stands in the houses,” said Mbala who is also the acting Zambezi regional governor.
Although the Katima Mulilo Town Council has made provision for the affected families to stay in tents, most residents are reluctant to move into the temporary shelter.
When New Era visited the affected area over the weekend, many were unwilling to talk to the media except one resident who asked to be referred to only as Siyoka, who also resides in Choto and whose home was among those destroyed. He claimed that the town council was not helping them much.
He also said most residents are refusing to move out of their rundown homes.
“One of the reasons behind this is that the town council allocates tents for the worse affected people but tends to kick them out before the residents are back on their feet again. We are reluctant to accept a move into the tents, because last year those of us who moved into the tents found ourselves stranded when people from the town council started kicking us out saying the tents were needed by flood victims in the villages. Most of us were not even done rebuilding our homes, that is why most of us choose to rather rebuild our homes while it rains instead of moving into the tents,” Siyoka said.
Mbala revealed that besides Chotto the whole region was affected by heavy rains.
“If it continues to rain so heavily then most crops will be swamped and wither which might lead to a poor harvest. These heavy rains started before Christmas, so many villagers have stopped ploughing. The seeds that were planted have now rotted because fields are covered by water,” the councillor explained.
Further, he said all dust roads leading to schools in the flood-prone Kabbe areas have also been blocked by rainwater.
He said it would be extremely difficult for teachers and school materials to reach schools in those respective areas once the schools re-open in about a week’s time.
Affected schools are Imukusi, Sisuha, Malindi, Schuckmannsburg, Namiyundu, Nankuntwe, Itomba, Nsundwa, Ivilivinzi, Mbalasinte, Kasika and Impalila.
“All these dust roads leading to these schools are impassable. Currently there is nothing to be done except improve road infrastructure in these areas,” Mbala said.
According to him, vehicles are often stuck and motorists are forced to overnight in their cars for a day or two before they get assistance from villagers to pull them out of the mud and water with oxen.
Moreover, Mbala maintained that if heavy rains persists in south-western Zambia, the north-east Angola and south-west of the DRC which are the catchment areas for tributaries flowing into the Zambezi river then the region could once again experience very severe floods.
“If it is only raining in the Zambezi Region, then the floods will affect Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Currently the water is coming out of rivers that flow into the plains,” he noted.
(See pictures on page 13)
• Additional reporting by John Matali
By Albertina Nakale, John Travolter Matali and George Sanzila