Dar Es Salaam Water Shortage Crisis

News:

On Sunday December 14, 2025, The Dar es Salaam Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (Dawasa) issued a water supply schedule for the city. In some areas a 20-litre plastic container of water from local vendors has reached up to Sh1,000 five times higher than the normal price.

Comment:

Since flag independence, Tanzania and Dar es Salaam city in particular has never experienced full-time water supply. For instance, last year 2024, 2022 and 2021, the city had crippling water supply shortages. The current shortage as it has been explained by the government has been the result of severe dropping in production at Ruvu Plant caused by delayed rainfall.

The water crisis in Tanzania is cyclical, almost every year with just different levels of severity. It has impacted people’s lives with an inconsistent water supply as many parts of the city experience catastrophic, high costs to buy water from vendors and sometimes people are forced to wait for water ration at nights.

It’s shameful that, despite Tanzania having abundant sources of water, yet it suffers in water shortage crisis. The country has major lakes like Victoria, Tanganyika, and Nyasa, many rivers including Rufiji, Pangani, Wami, Ruvuma, Mara, Kagera, and Gombe, not to mention the Indian Ocean, the underground aquifer, the wetlands and the rainwater.

Above all, Tanzania undergoes other factors such as aging pipes and persistent leaks that caused water infrastructure in distressing situations leading about 37 to 49 per cent of the water supplied being lost due to leakages.

This is about almost half of the water supplied being lost. If only the lost water were to be saved the supply would be better than the current situation.

This is how the capitalist governments everywhere treat their people without really care on their affairs even in basic needs for survival such as water.

The issues of irresponsibility and disregard in serving people fairly is far from reality in capitalism, since the basis of this ideology and its political system is only self-interests. Therefore, all within the scope of this ideology from politicians and civil servants have only one agenda of enriching themselves, their families and cronies and never to tackle the people’s problems. Personal interest is what motivated politicians to attain political positions not eagerness to serve and solving people’s problems.

In contrast in Islam, Khilafah (Caliphate) State role is to serve people and its top priority is to make all people having access and acquire all basic needs for survival. The Islamic State (Khilafah) is obliged and responsible to provide all social services to all its citizens free or on reasonable cost. In order to smoothen accessibility of social services to all, it is forbidden to privatize major sources of water or any other public properties.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Said Bitomwa
Member of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Tanzania