Zimbabwe's village chiefs might soon start handing out fines because people keep ignoring flood warnings and getting stranded in rivers.
Traditional leaders may penalize river crossers
Traditional leaders may penalize river crossers
- The Department of Civil Protection is tired of begging folks to stay safe, so they are talking to higher-ups about letting local chiefs drop fines.
- Nathan Nkomo confirmed that consultations are officially underway to give village heads the power to punish anyone who thinks they can outswim a flood.
- Ignoring danger signals has become a habit in some jurisdictions, so the authorities want to hit reckless locals right in the wallet.
- Since the clouds opened up in October, the death count has sadly climbed to 79 people, with dozens more getting hurt in the process.
- Officials say these deaths were totally avoidable, which is why the strategy is shifting from friendly warnings to actual consequences.
- Simple avoidance could have saved these lives, but the current casualty list proves that people need a stronger deterrent than just words.
- Ten locals have been stuck on an island in the Save River for four straight days as of Tuesday because the water refuses to go down.
- William Mashava noted that Mahenye Village deals with this same mess every year because people keep farming on land they were told to avoid.
- Ward 23 is seeing a repeat of the 2025 drama, where rescue teams had to deal with residents who just refused to listen to common sense.
