From Condolences to Accountability: How Many More Zimbabweans Must Die?

With the death toll now at 94, with more people still feared still missing, what happened to the Mbuya Nehanda Passenger Ferry is extremely sad. I cannot find words to express my sorrow over the loss of so many lives, the psychological effects this will have on the survivors, the searing pain of loss and wounds that will plague many families, friends and communities, the country and humanity as a whole. Death, caused by whatever reason, is a phenomenon that causes humans to pause and reflect, to appreciate the simple gift of being alive, to call to mind the finitude of existence and uncertainty of life’s end. We only have one life and only one chance of living it, and when that life is lost, especially in a preventable tragedy, society and peoples must strive to work harder toward the future safeguarding of this gift called life. My heart goes out to the families that grieve, and I honour those whose lives were lost, may they rest in God’s peace. 

This blog does not set out to blame anyone, but simply asks: how many more preventable tragedies are yet to kill Zimbabweans? Until when will human negligence, poor law enforcement of safety regulations, poor emergency response services, and deteriorating infrastructure be responded to with condolence messages, national-disaster-declarations and state-assisted funerals?

Thomas Hobbes and other theorists, in explaining the origins and necessity of the state, imagine a world before this one organised in societies and nations. One in which humans lived in a state of nature, where lives were ‘nasty, brutish and short.’ In this hypothetical time, because of the absence of the state or government, each person looked out for herself, humans fought to defend themselves, attain resources and territory, and grow their families. It is obvious that this imagined world of the state-of-nature is undesirable – it was necessary for humanity to emerge from it.

What happens then, when, as in the modern epoch, millions of lives are still marked by precarity and uncertainty, where government protection and responsibility seems to no longer serve the needs of the public? Do present forms of power actually respond to humanity’s most pressing needs or are politics so far removed from the reach of the mundane and marginalised so as not to serve them?

94 people died, who was there to protect them, what could have been done and by whom to save lives? Could the government have had better policies in place, and better ways to enforce safety regulations? Could the roads connecting rural populations have been maintained well so as not to overcrowd the ferries? Could law enforcement officers have disallowed the ferry from disembarking with 63+ extra passengers? Instead of shifting the blame on the driver who while stubborn, was also a victim of failed public infrastructure and lack of law enforcement? 

The Mbuya Nehanda was never meant to carry more than 90 people, but it is estimated that it had more than 153 people , with some survivors assuming it was more than 200. The attempt to lay all the blame of the ferry’s captain’s stubbornness is a weak argument and seeks to absolve key political actors of their failure to discharge duties and responsibilities. Ferries get overcrowded because most roads connecting places in Kariba have terrible and unusable roads.

No one asks why this overcrowding  was allowed to happen because it happens everywhere! Kombis meant to carry 15 passengers, carry 20, sometimes 21 or even 25 people. They pass through roadblocks and even carry police officers too. In many public schools a single teacher is responsible for teaching more than 50 students – students scramble over a single textbook in groups of 10s or more. Places as massive as Cowdray Park (with more than 75 000 people), have no hospital, no fire stations, no ambulances, and I cannot even mention the wood cabins that are called the Police Station.

Many Zimbabweans die because the journey to the nearest hospital is just too far, and this is not just a thing in rural areas. Rapidly expanding locations and suburbs in cities and towns are isolated from life saving access to medical facilities and emergency response services. Zimbabweans die because ambulances have to travel long distances, on roads that are poorly maintained and difficult to navigate. People have been rushed to hospitals only to be told to wait in the queue or that there is no doctor or medication are too many to ignore. The simple fact that ghetto (by which I mean townships) roads are so difficult to navigate – not only did the City Councils get too lazy to name the streets, but the proliferation of illegal structures that obstruct possible emergency routes is dangerously unchecked. 

In April 2026, 12 Zimbabweans were instantly killed when a Toyota Minibus exploded. It was illegally transporting commercial explosive materials in a passenger vehicle. In May 2026, 8 Zimbabweans, including a little girl, died after falling off the Deka River bridge. In a Toyota Noah meant to carry 7 or 8 people, they were 13. In June 2026, 7 children from Matongo Primary School in Gweru, not older than 6, burned to death because a petrol container was negligently put next to the vehicle’s battery. Citizens who tried to help, without proper equipment and with no emergency services in site, watched the children die. In June 2026 again, 3 people drowned in a deep sewage filled trench left open and unsecured by the City Council of Harare, in Kuwadzana Extension Harare. The city of Harare assisted with the funerals. In July 2025, on Seke Road near Hunyani Bridge in Chitungwiza, 17 Zimbabweans died in an accident involving a kombi and a 30-tonne haulage truck. For 3 hours, people were trapped, crying for help.

The Mbuya Nehanda Ferry accident offers a thought-provoking analogy for leadership; what happens when those in power do not listen? The survivors claim, in various reports, to have alerted the driver before undocking that the ferry was overwhelmed and taking in water. At several points before the tragedy, not only did the Captain shout at the concerned passengers, but also demanded that they not call for help. They did, but it was too late. This is what sadly happens when those in power do not listen. People die. The Captain denied the passengers the right to, from their position, express their fear based on what they were aware was happening to them.

What happens when people are ignored, or disallowed from crying and complaining when hospitals, roads, bridges, schools and other public facilities are dilapidated and neglected? What happens when those in power, far removed from the lived experiences of the people either deny the people’s pleas or force them to deny the testimonies of their senses about what they are actually going through? What happens when the collective called the people is ignored, when lawlessness becomes ubiquitous and society views corruption as a means of survival? 

Sources Reuters (2026), Zimbabwe ferry death toll reaches 94 as government confirms it was over capacity, August 18. Reuters Al Jazeera (2026), Death toll from Zimbabwe ferry disaster rises to 72, August 15. Al Jazeera The Herald (2026), Kombi explosion: 12 bodies recovered, April 18. The Herald Masvingo Mirror (2026), 7 Matongo Primary pupils die as kombi blows up, June 10. Masvingo Mirror New Zimbabwe (2026), Shock as three bodies retrieved from Budiriro 3 sewer pool after suspected council negligence, June 8. New Zimbabwe Pindula News (2025), ZRP releases names of 17 victims in Seke Road accident, July 23, published in The Zimbabwean. The Zimbabwean 