THIS year’s Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF) was scheduled to run from September 24 – 29 in Harare.
It did not take place.
It was postponed to a date in October, which is still to be determined, because of the outbreak of cholera in the city.
Walking through the traditional exhibition space in the Harare Gardens this past week was heartbreaking.
There were no colourful book stalls and no schoolchildren enjoying the September breeze, frolicking from book stand to book stand.
There was no music, no vibrancy, just desolation.
There was the disturbing presence of street people who seem to have made Harare Gardens their home.
About seven of them sat menacingly in front of the Julius Nyerere entrance to the ZIBF exhibition space.
One had to pump up courage to ask them to make way.
A visitor to Harare would be intimidated and would probably go the other way.
This was not the Harare Gardens we knew.
There were pools of water gushing from one of the tapes around the desolate stands.
I was told these were efforts to wash away the stench of human waste so it would be bearable to be in the gardens. Many, it seems, do not bother to find a toilet because the gardens are ‘quite ok’ for that purpose.
It was better now they said, after they had washed away so much of it.
I could not believe this was our Harare Gardens meant for our people to have a nice place to relax and be at peace away from the noise and bustle of the city — but no more, others have taken over.
A mother sits on a bench by the Julius Nyerere entrance to the ZIBF exhibition space and her two barefooted children rush with containers to get water from the gushing pipe.
This was not just drinking water, but sizeable containers. Where were they taking the water?
Were they taking it somewhere in the gardens to cook perhaps?
Are the Gardens their home now?
Are the Harare Gardens a residential place now instead of a recreational park?
Are these barefooted children splashing in the water that had just washed the gardens of human waste safe from disease, cholera in particular?
Some have decided the Harare Gardens is the place for them to brew and sell beer.
They had even taken it further to braai meat in front of the gardens, in the space between the Crown Plaza and the National Art Gallery.
Their argument was that everyone does it in the city, why shouldn’t they? But they were stopped from going that far.
With the brewing and selling of beer comes drunkenness, with the drunks carelessly relieving themselves all over the place.
How can it be Harare Gardens like this?
How is it possible to prevent an outbreak of diseases in the gardens under these circumstances?
It is already October and the ZIBF is to take place.
How can this be possible when the situation is still like this at this 11th hour?
Surely the gardens should have been secured by now and the cleaning, disinfecting and sanitising should long have been done so that the place can be safe.
The rains are upon us.
What will happen when it rains?
Street people clog the drains with waste, and so the rain water will go nowhere.
How will it be possible to control and prevent the outbreak and spread of cholera in the gardens.
A major highlight of the ZIBF is the visit by schoolchildren from all over Zimbabwe in the last two days of the book week.
How will it be possible for children to be safe under these circumstances?
Drastic steps should have been taken by now because we are already in October.
How can it be permissible that anyone who wants to use the Harare Gardens for whatever purpose can just do so? — brewing beer, selling beer, drinking beer, taking drugs, living there and relieving themselves in the public space.
Harare Gardens is for recreation and peaceful relaxation, not for the above.
How can you take children to Harare Gardens to play?
How can you take a book to the Gardens to read and be peaceful?
How can you enjoy a lazy Saturday afternoon with a friend under these circumstances?
We are faced with the destruction of something beautiful meant for the edification of the general public.
This is a result of lawlessness.
As Zimbabwe, we have the means to control the situation.
As long as the current situation obtains in the Harare Gardens, an outbreak of cholera and typhoid cannot be ruled out.
For the 2018 chapter of the ZIBF to take place, it is imperative that the situation in the Harare Gardens be rectified.