By Princess Eugene Majuru
HARARE – In a gesture symbolizing community support amid the capital’s persistent water woes, the Miss Universe Zimbabwe Board Chairperson, Colonel Miniyothabo Baloyi Chiwenga, officially commissioned a new borehole in Epworth, Harare, today. She was accompanied by the reigning Miss Universe Zimbabwe, Lyshanda Moyas.
Colonel Chiwenga, who is also known as the Second Lady of Zimbabwe and the wife of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, highlighted the profound meaning of the donation during her address.
The Small Gift, Deep Meaning
Speaking fluently in Shona, Colonel Chiwenga emphasized that while the gift of the borehole might be small in scale, its significance was deep, as it “came from the bottom of the hearts of people in the organisation.” She underscored the collective effort required to bring the project to fruition, thanking the various individuals within the Miss Universe Zimbabwe organization who were instrumental in ensuring the Epworth community received this vital resource.
Her delivery in the local language was well-received and effectively conveyed a message of empathy and solidarity with the residents struggling daily with basic service provision.
Commentary: A Borehole in the Capital—A Sign of Systemic Failure
The commissioning of this borehole, while a welcome relief to the Epworth community, tragically underscores the deepening crisis of governance in Zimbabwe’s capital. The fact that a beauty pageant organization must step in to provide the most fundamental necessity—clean water—is a stark indictment of the Harare City Council’s infrastructural failure.
Borehole drilling, once unheard of in a major city like Harare, has now become a desperate resort for residents. This privatization of public service delivery not only strains individual finances but also poses long-term risks to the city’s water table and sanitation systems.
The image of the Second Lady and the country’s beauty queen officially handing over a borehole as a charitable act is powerful, but it should not normalize the situation. Water provision is a governmental and municipal responsibility, not an issue to be solved through philanthropy. The true solution lies in rehabilitating the city’s main water treatment works and pipe network, not in drilling countless localized boreholes.
The sincerity of Colonel Chiwenga and the Miss Universe Zimbabwe team is appreciated, yet the event serves as a glaring reminder that until the systemic infrastructure decay is addressed, Harare residents will continue to rely on the “small gifts” of charity to survive.
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