(Public Statement 14 December 2022) As the Zimbabwe electricity shortage situation is worsening in urban areas, Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) is concerned with the high-risk exposure that women and girls are subjected to as they fetch firewood in the bushes that are in the edges of the City and the organization calls on... Continue Reading →
MIHR SUPPORTED FODDER FARMERS EXPECT BUMPER FODDER HARVEST
The Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) supported St Peters village fodder farmers in peri-urban Bulawayo are expecting a bumper harvest from their fodder which is expected to be harvested before end of December 2022. MIHR with support from the New Zealand High Commission is implementing a climate resilience building programme which empowers poor peri-urban... Continue Reading →
MIHR GIVES PARLIAMENT ORAL EVIDENCE ON TRADITIONAL LEADERS ACT AMENDMENT PETITION
On the 6th of December 2022, Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) Coordinator Mr Khumbulani Maphosa gave oral evidence before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government. The oral evidence was on a petition that MIHR made to parliament calling for the amendment of the Traditional Leaders Act specifically to uphold the Constitutional principle of... Continue Reading →
BY-ELECTION VIOLENCE INTIMIDATES WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS DEFENDERS
Incidences of political violence that marred the recently held Zimbabwean local authority by-elections are causing fear and intimidation amongst the community water and environmental rights defenders as they are scared to openly challenge environmental polluters (especially those linked to the political elites) for fear of victimization and violence. Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) environmental... Continue Reading →
Bulawayo slum residents drink from open wells
(Bulawayo female slum dweller drinks from an unprotected open well which is their only water source) Water poverty continues to haunt Bulawayo slum dwellers residing around the Ngozi Mine waste dumpsite. Due to their illegality, the local authority is not providing the slum dwellers with water services, and they resort to asking from nearby suburbs.... Continue Reading →
Bulawayo Water Billing Engagement Meeting Held with Positive Results
Today (29 Sept 2022) MIHR met with the top management of the Bulawayo City Council’s Department of Finance to discuss critical matters relating to billing and water shedding. The meeting was a result of the citizens’ petition that was signed by 1513 residents and delivered to BCC by MIHR on the 20th of September 2022.... Continue Reading →
MEDIA ALERT: Overcrowding, shared toilets worsening diarrhoea situation
THE issue of overcrowding and sharing of communal bathrooms and toilets coupled with the worsening water crisis in Bulawayo has been blamed for the city ’s diarrhoea outbreak, which has so far claimed two lives. Statistics from the city health services department show that more than 1 663 cumulative cases have been recorded so far... Continue Reading →
MIHR Submits 1513 Signatures Water Billing Residents’ Petition
Today (Tuesday 20 September 2022) Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) submitted to the Bulawayo City Council a petition with 1513 signatures asking the local authority to review its water billing system in accordance with the currently prevailing water shedding programme. Currently Bulawayo City Council is facing a water shortage situation which has forced the... Continue Reading →
Challenges Faced by Shared Sanitation Communities During Bulawayo Water Shedding Times
Conflicts are on the rise in Bulawayo’s shared sanitation communities such as Iminyela and Mabuthweni (in ward 13) as residents struggle to rationalize health and hygiene needs due to the continued water rationing currently happening in Zimbabwe’s second largest City. The City of Bulawayo is currently undergoing an official 72 hours per week water shedding... Continue Reading →
Teddy Ngwenya Organizes Youths to CleanUp Neighborhood
As the race for the Rights In Action Fellowship Champion heats up, Teddy Ngwenya has mobilized youths in his community to cleanup litter in their neighborhood and at the same time educating them about environmental management. The cleanup was also attended by Council officials who also included the local Councilor. Teddy has a vision of... Continue Reading →