When Flood Victims Became State Victims: Tokwe-Mukosi,Zimbabwe

The purpose of this article is to show how victims of the Tokwe-Mukosi floods became state victims instead of being protected and assisted by the state. The research used the qualitative research design and analyzed its material collected from primary and secondary sources and presented in themes. The study benefited from the human rights and victimhood concepts in its theoretical framework. It argues that the rights of the flood victims were violated when the government failed to fulfill its obligation and promises, which included urgently allocating plots and providing financial compensation. Accordingly, the victims were left without a permanent destination, clean water, food, or access to education and health facilities. When the affected people sought redress, the state deployed outright violence, using the police and the military to force the flood victims into compliance. The victims were forced to accept the inadequate one-hectare plots without receiving the monetary compensation the government had promised. Instead of contributing toward ending the challenges faced by the flood victims, some government officials worsened their plight. They engaged in corruption during the allocation of plots and the distribution of relief aid donated by nongovernmental organizations—hence my assertion that the Tokwe-Mukosi flood victims became state victims.