Kariba residents drag govt to court over ferry crisis after 97 die in Mbuya Nehanda disaster

TWO Kariba residents have approached the High Court seeking an order compelling the government to provide adequate, safe and reliable ferries on Lake Kariba, weeks after the Mbuya Nehanda ferry disaster that claimed 97 lives.

The urgent application, filed at the High Court sitting in Chinhoyi, argues that the government’s failure to adequately replace the RIDA-operated ferry has left communities dependent on an undersized private vessel or an expensive and lengthy road route.

The applicants, fishermen Tonderai Ndevani and Chilumbo Mudenda, want the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, the Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (RIDA) and the Minister of Local Government and Public Works ordered to provide ferries that comply with the safety requirements under the Inland Waters Shipping Act.

They are also seeking an order requiring the respondents to submit monthly reports to the court detailing steps being taken to procure or provide replacement ferries.

The application comes in the aftermath of Zimbabwe’s deadliest ferry disaster when the Mbuya Nehanda capsized on Lake Kariba on August 11, killing 97 people.

The government-operated ferry was travelling from Kariba towards Chalala when it capsized near Long Island. Early reports put the number of people aboard at 114 adults and five crew members, with an unknown number of children, while subsequent investigations indicated that the vessel may have been carrying substantially more people than its authorised capacity of 90.

The death toll eventually rose to 97, with police continuing the identification of victims after the disaster. The vessel had been providing a crucial transport link for isolated communities around Lake Kariba.

The applicants’ court papers now argue that the tragedy has not only created a transport crisis but has exposed residents to the risk of another disaster if demand continues to outstrip available ferry capacity.

Ndevani, 39, says he lives in Batonga Township in Kariba but his parents and two siblings live in Mola under Chief Mola in rural Kariba.

As a fisherman, he also sells his fish at different fishing camps around Lake Kariba and says he used to travel to Mola at least once a week to visit his family.

According to his founding affidavit, the ferry was the only affordable and reasonably expedient means of travelling between Kariba town and Mola.

“Travelling across Lake Kariba via Ferry is the only affordable and reasonably expedient mode of transport for me and other members of the community to travel from Batonga where I stay to Mola where my family members reside,” Ndevani said.

He said the ferry journey took between two and three hours and cost between US$10 and US$15.

The alternative by road, he said, involves travelling from Kariba to Karoi, then to Siakobvu and finally to Mola.

That journey costs between US$40 and US$45 one way and can take about 10 hours, while public transport between Siakobvu and Mola is unreliable, forcing travellers to wait for private vehicles or board trucks.

“I cannot afford the US$40 to US$45 fare to travel to Mola by road and it takes a copious amount of time to get there as compared to using the ferry which takes a fraction of the time at a fraction of the price,” he said.

Ndevani said the government had not introduced a replacement ferry after the Mbuya Nehanda capsized.

Instead, a private operator, Most High Ferries, introduced the MV Silverstone, which was commissioned on September 18 to service the Kariba-Chalala route.

But the applicants argue that the vessel cannot meet the demand previously served by the Mbuya Nehanda.

“The MV Silverstone Ferry is therefore inadequate to reasonably meet the travelling needs of the people who relied on the capsized Mbuya Nehanda Ferry to transit through the Lake Kariba,” Ndevani said.

The applicants contend that the problem is particularly acute because the ferry service serves communities that have few practical alternatives.

Ndevani says the Kariba Urban and rural communities are separated by Lake Kariba and there is no proper, reliable and safe road network directly linking the areas.

The second applicant, Mudenda, lives under Chief Sinakatenge in Binga but regularly travels to Kariba town to visit relatives and buy supplies, according to the application.

The applicants say residents from both sides of the lake therefore depend heavily on ferry transport to maintain family, commercial and social links.

They have invoked sections 51 and 66(2)(a) of the Constitution, arguing that the continued absence of adequate ferry services infringes the rights to dignity and freedom of movement.

“The Applicants and other members of the Kariba community have a right to freedom of movement and residence which encompasses their right to move freely within Zimbabwe,” the application states.

The applicants argue that the State has a constitutional obligation not merely to refrain from interfering with freedom of movement but to take positive steps to facilitate its exercise.

They say providing a safe, reliable and affordable ferry service is necessary to fulfil that obligation in Kariba, where crossing the lake is the most practical means of reaching some rural communities.

The application further argues that the government cannot simply rely on the private sector to discharge what the applicants describe as a constitutional responsibility.

“The Respondents cannot outsource this constitutional duty to private entities,” Ndevani said.

“Private entities and players only serve to complement already existing state or government efforts.”

The applicants also question whether a single 60-passenger ferry can reasonably serve the communities previously dependent on the Mbuya Nehanda.

They point to the 2022 Population and Housing Census, which they say recorded 45 774 people living across 12 wards in the Kariba Rural Constituency.

They argue that the figure demonstrates the scale of the population potentially dependent on water transport and that one small ferry cannot adequately meet the demand.

Of particular concern to the applicants is the possibility that passengers could again be tempted to overload a ferry because of a shortage of transport.

“If this Honourable Court does not intervene on an urgent basis, the Applicants and other members of the Kariba Community would be unable to move safely and affordably through and across the Lake Kariba,” the application states.

“More disconcertingly, there is a reasonable likelihood that the crews and operators and desperate travelers including the Applicants may be tempted to overload the ferry due to the lack of alternative ferry services and unmet demand.”

That warning comes against the backdrop of the Mbuya Nehanda tragedy, where concerns over the number of people aboard the vessel became central to the aftermath of the disaster.

Government officials initially said the ferry had a capacity of 90 passengers but was carrying at least 114 adults, five crew members and an unknown number of children. Later preliminary findings put the number aboard, including passengers and cargo, at as many as 180.

The disaster triggered a major rescue and recovery operation and was declared a State of Disaster by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The vessel was more than four decades old, having been among ferries brought into Zimbabwe in 1985.

The tragedy has also resulted in criminal proceedings, with RIDA Kariba district clerk and acting district head Ignatius Chiome being remanded in connection with a culpable homicide case arising from the disaster. The State has alleged that administrative failures, overloading and breaches of operational safety procedures contributed to the accident. Those allegations remain subject to the criminal proceedings.

The new court application does not seek to determine the causes of the disaster but focuses on what the applicants describe as the continuing transport crisis created by the loss of the ferry.

They say every day without an adequate replacement causes continuing harm to residents who need to cross the lake.

“The fundamental rights to freedom of movement and to dignity are being breached with each day that passes without the Respondent providing reasonably adequate replacement and or interim safe and reliable ferry services,” Ndevani said.

The applicants also warn that reliance on the private ferry creates another vulnerability because its operator could withdraw the service for commercial reasons.

“The MV Silverstone Ferry being privately operated can be withdrawn from servicing the route at any time that the owners of the ferry would deem to be in their business interests and thus leaving us stranded,” the affidavit states.

They have therefore asked the High Court to order the respondents to provide an adequate number of ferries meeting the statutory safety standards within one month.

If permanent replacement ferries cannot immediately be procured, the applicants want the government to provide compliant vessels on an interim basis while the procurement process continues.

They are also seeking a requirement that the government provide monthly reports to the Registrar of the High Court detailing its progress in procuring, purchasing or otherwise making available replacement ferries.

For the final order, the applicants want the court to declare that failure by the respondents to provide adequate ferries on the routes served by Mbuya Nehanda violates the constitutional right to freedom of movement and the right to dignity.

The applicants are proceeding under section 85(1)(d) of the Constitution, which they say permits a person acting in the public interest to approach the courts where fundamental rights are being or are likely to be infringed.

Ndevani argues that the issue extends beyond his own difficulty in visiting his family.

“I submit that there is inherent public interest in the matter because the capsizing of the Mbuya Nehanda ferry is a national disaster and tragedy,” he said.

He argues that the ferry was the only affordable link between Kariba town, rural Kariba, Chalala and parts of Binga, making the availability of safe replacement services an issue affecting entire communities.

The application also argues that the government would suffer little prejudice by providing additional ferries because it had previously operated the Mbuya Nehanda service and is better positioned to mobilise resources.

“The prejudice or inconvenience suffered by the Respondents in mobilizing resources to provide a safe, reliable and adequate ferry service is outweighed by the prejudice that I and other people who rely on the ferry to navigate and transit across Lake Kariba,” Ndevani said.

The matter has been brought as urgent, with Ndevani arguing that he deliberately allowed time for rescue operations, mourning and the government to mobilise resources after the August 11 disaster before approaching the court.

He says the September 18 commissioning of the MV Silverstone demonstrated that the available response was inadequate.

The draft provisional order before the court seeks to compel the respondents to provide compliant ferries within one month and, if permanent replacements are not immediately available, to provide interim ferries while procurement continues.

The applicants also want the government to report to the court every month on progress towards restoring a permanent ferry service.

The matter is yet to be set down for hearing.

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