Zambia’s Minister for Transport, Works, Supply, and Communications Yamfwa Mukanga may be in over his head.
For months now, we’ve been getting reports that the 128-metre tall Kariba Dam on the border with Zimbabwe is showing signs of stress fractures and imminent collapse if the two governments do not act quickly to make repairs.
A report in the British newspaper The Economist also highlights the problem that Mukanga is in charge of solving.
According to that source, “the issue centres on the flood gates, which leak water when closed, putting the dam’s foundations at risk of erosion. An employee of the Zambia Electricity Supply Company, which uses the dam to generate hydroelectric power, thinks the gates may have fallen into complete disrepair and that a new dam ought to be constructed. A potential donor however reckons all six gates could be fixed over six years.”
Repairing the dam, which was originally built in 1955, would require significant funds and help from donor institutions, however, the EU, World Bank and African Development Bank disagree about how they can lend to Zimbabwe given its record on human rights.
If the Kariba Dam were to fail, it would be catastrophic – causing major flooding in Malawi and Mozambique (likely destroying their Cahora Bassa dam), while Zambia and Zimbabwe would lose a crucial source of power.
The Zambian government of President Michael Sata has gone on an unprecedented borrowing spree, including two separate Eurobonds of $750 million and $1 billion, which were said to be directed toward “infrastructure investment,” however none of these funds appear to have been applied to maintenance on the Kariba Dam.
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