KARIBA — Water transport on Lake Kariba is set to resume within days after the Government certified a privately owned ferry, more than a month after the deadly Mbuya Nehanda disaster that claimed 97 lives.

Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona said the vessel had passed the required inspections and was cleared to operate after the Government invited private operators to help restore services on the route.

The ferry is expected to reconnect communities in Kariba Urban and Kariba Rural, which rely heavily on water transport. Road travel between the two areas can stretch hundreds of kilometres, making the lake route a vital link.

The move follows the August 11 capsizing of the RIDA-operated Mbuya Nehanda, Zimbabwe’s deadliest maritime disaster, in which at least 97 people died.

A week ago, Mutsa Murombedzi, a proportional representation MP for Mashonaland West, urged the responsible authorities to expedite sourcing alternative transport, noting that teachers and students were stranded after travelling for school holidays.