The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) has come against the City of Harare’s proposed 2026 Budget, stating the planned water tariff hikes as astronomic, unrealistic, and insensitive to the economic struggles of residents.
The city’s proposal seeks to raise water tariffs for high-density suburbs from US$1.24 to US$2 per kilolitre a 61 percent increase and for low-density areas from US$1.70 to US$4 per kilolitre, a 188 percent increase.
CHRA Chairperson David Pasipanodya said the hikes would worsen inequality and undermine residents’ access to basic water services.
“The water tariff hike is a threat to household water security and a deliberate move aligned to the water privatisation agenda while aiming to isolate the urban poor from accessing water on the basis of affordability,” he said.
Pasipanodya said the budget projections were overly ambitious, given the city’s poor revenue collection and service delivery record.
“We note that the budget’s projected 19 percent revenue increase to US$690.8 million is overly ambitious given the current 50 percent revenue collection efficiency and persistent service delivery breakdowns,” he said.
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“The local authority cannot continue to demand more from residents while failing to provide basic services such as clean water, waste collection, and sewer maintenance.”
He also criticised the city’s conditional debt amnesty proposal and its failure to update financial statements, saying this undermines public trust.
“The audit backlog is worrying, noting that the City of Harare’s financial statements are only updated to 2021 a situation that undermines public confidence, trust, and accountability,” said Pasipanodya.
CHRA called on the city of Harare to prioritise service delivery improvements, publish a transparent debt management plan, and implement a fair, measurable tariff model.
“Council must link tariff adjustments directly to visible service improvements,” Pasipanodya said.
“Residents cannot continue to bear the cost of inefficiency.”
The association urged authorities to strengthen internal capacity in procurement and project management to ensure accountability in budget execution.
CHRA maintains that water a basic human right should not be turned into a luxury.
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