Zimbabwe: Lubimbi Women Demand Services Before Relocation

They said moving families to Nakanono without adequate services would increase their workload, particularly because women are largely responsible for fetching water, caring for children and supporting households. Nakanono has been identified as a resettlement area in the Gwayi-Shangani Planning Area Master Plan, prepared by the Department of Spatial Planning and Development in Matabeleland North in May 2026. The master plan identifies displacement and relocation among the potential impacts of developments within the planning area. It does not give a specific figure for the number of women facing displacement. However, it states that Ward 20 in Binga has a population of 5,163, including 2,850 women. The concerns were raised during a community engagement meeting hosted by the Zimbabwe Resilience Network in partnership with Basilwizi Trust, with support from ActionAid Zimbabwe, to discuss the master plan with villagers. Lucia Mupande, a villager, said women would bear much of the burden if families were moved to areas far from water sources. “As a woman, the relocation doesn’t sit well with me because us the women are the ones with a huge duty when it comes to relocation. It will give us a great job because we are the ones who fetch water,” Mupande said. She said long distances to water sources would be particularly difficult for women carrying young children. “It will be difficult for us women to fetch water more than 20km, carrying a bucket of water on the head while carrying a baby on your back,” she said. Mupande also raised concerns about access to education, saying women would face additional challenges if children had to travel long distances to school. “Even school-going children, we are the ones taking care of children. When schools are far, it will be a challenge for us,” she said. She said access to water would also be essential for building houses at the relocation site. “The relocation will be a burden to us, moulding houses needs water, if water is far, it’s a burden for women,” Mupande said. The women want water sources to be established close to households before they are relocated. “As women, we wish to be relocated to an area where water sources are close,” Mupande said. Their demands extend beyond basic services. They also want communities affected by the dam to benefit economically from the project. Mupande said local people, particularly children from affected communities, should be prioritised for jobs created by the dam. “As affected women, we should be the first to get the benefits from Gwayi-Shangani Dam because we are the ones being relocated. Our children should get employed at the dam because we are the ones being moved,” she said. She also called for income-generating projects for women in affected communities. “As women, we should have income-generating projects so that we empower ourselves as women,” Mupande said. Another villager, Vivian Nyathi, said affected families should receive adequate compensation and decent houses before relocation. “When Gwayi-Shangani Dam resumes, we want nice buildings. As women, we want to benefit out of it,” Nyathi said. She called for compensation for existing homes and the construction of replacement houses and essential infrastructure at the new settlement. “We want compensation for our houses. We want the government to construct houses for us where we are going, dip tank, clinic, schools so that we don’t suffer as women,” she said. Nyathi said access to water should not be compromised by relocation, arguing that women in Lubimbi were accustomed to fetching water from sources relatively close to their homes. “We want to be fetching water closer because where we stay we get water closer. We are not allowed as women to walk long distances with buckets to fetch water, so we want to get water closer,” she said. She also called for schools to be built close to the new settlements. “We want schools to be closer because our children are not used to walking long distances t