AT LEAST 3,5 million people in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia are in danger amid disclosures that the Kariba Dam wall has developed “serious structural weaknesses” which need to be rectified within the next three years.
While the Zambian government acknowledged the gravity of the situation, their Zimbabwean counterparts were attempting to downplay it.
Zambia’s Finance Ministry permanent secretary Felix Nkulukusa told NewsDay yesterday that the dam wall risked being washed away if nothing was done in the next three years. Nkulukusa, who is also chairperson of an inter-governmental committee responsible for mobilising funds to repair the dam wall, said Zambia and Zimbabwe must raise $250 million to avert a major humanitarian and economic crisis.
