Challenges to Provision of Water at District Level by Local Government: the Case of Goromonzi District

This study investigated challenges undermining the provision of water in the Goromonzi District of Zimbabwe. Interviews were conducted on a sample of thirty respondents drawn from rural and rural-urban residents of the district to determine conditions that affect water provision at district level. Thematic and content analysis was used to analyse data. The findings reveal that some rural dwellers travel distances that exceed 2 kilometres to fetch water from boreholes, especially during the hot but dry months of the year. The results further revealed that some wells in homesteads dry up during the year, forcing the villagers to scout for water outside their villages. The Goromonzi Rural District Council bears the responsibility of constructing boreholes in the district. However, this task is shared between ward councillors and the local Member of Parliament who are expected to lobby for funding towards the constructing of boreholes in their areas of jurisdiction. The inflationary economy Zimbabwe is experiencing erodes the district’s capacity to implement community development projects, including borehole drilling. This study recommends the adoption of radical fiscal policies that could curb inflation, including the adoption of stable currency that is less susceptible to inflation.