Harare councilor for New Tafara, Mercy Kasvosve, was charged with criminal abuse of office as a public officer after she appeared at Harare Magistrates Court on allegations of removing the handle of a borehole and depriving the community of accessing water.
Ms. Kasvosve pleaded guilty and was initially sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison, which was later reduced to a community service penalty.
The 49-year-old Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) councilor is said to have personalized the community water source since July 2020, removing the borehole handle and keeping it at her house. The councilor would only install the handle at night when she wants to fetch water, said Richard Uda who raised the complaint leading to Kasvosve’s arrest.
New Tafara is one of many new settlements in Harare that have not had running water for years as the infrastructure has never been built. New Tafara is one of the few lucky suburbs to have community boreholes, which serve thousands of families, and without the boreholes, they have to resort to buying water or drawing polluted water from shallow wells.
