Government help sought as Zimbabweans fight cholera

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Raw sewage flows freely in some streets of Zimbabwe’s capital, posing a deadly challenge to the recently elected president who has promised the troubled country a new dawn.

A cholera outbreak has killed more than 30 people and sickened more than 7,000 as it spreads beyond Harare, posing the latest crisis for a government that pledges, somehow, to turn a collapsed economy into a middle-class one by 2030.

The signs are not encouraging. Inflation has spiked. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took office after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe and for a while sent hopes soaring, now spends his time vowing to fight a “medieval” disease.

As many residents of Harare hopskip over fetid puddles, many are reminded of the outbreak a decade ago that killed over 4,000 people. Now water and sanitation are largely worse than before.

As the outbreak spreads beyond Harare, Zimbabweans see it as the new government’s first big test after a bitterly disputed election.

“It is by God’s grace that we have not yet been infected,” the 66-yearold Elizabeth Limamu told The Associated Press. She has lined a path of stones from the street to her home to avoid stepping in sewage that has pooled next to her yard. Children, some barefoot, play next to it.

“I lock my children inside. It is not safe out here,” said Tinotenda Kwitsa, a neighbor.

While some in Harare dig trenches to divert the flow, others cannot avoid the sewage that has crept into homes. Noisy schoolchildren in uniform swarm the streets, seemingly oblivious to the risky conditions.

In the suburb of Budiriro, one resident laughed at radio announcements advising people to wash their hands with running tap water.

“These taps have been dry for months. When it comes, the water has a brown color and it smells,” Norman Marambe said. Some residents have resorted to drilling boreholes or digging shallow wells and then locking them.

“Thieves steal both the water and taps if we don’t lock the taps,” said 61-year-old Annatolia Chivanga.

The financially struggling government has launched a $57 million appeal amid some backlash.

Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi The Associated Press Children jump over flowing raw sewage Monday on the streets of Harare, Zimbabwe.