At least 92 people have died after a passenger ferry capsized on Lake Kariba in northern Zimbabwe last Tuesday, making it one of the deadliest maritime disasters in the country's history. Police confirmed the latest toll on Monday after deploying four boats and more than 40 divers to recover victims from water reaching depths of 90 metres. Search operations remain ongoing, with authorities expecting more bodies to surface.

The vessel, named Mbuya Nehanda — after a 19th-century anti-colonial resistance figure — was travelling from the town of Kariba to remote fishing and farming communities along the lake's northwestern shore when it was caught in high winds and capsized. Although officially certified to carry 90 passengers, reports indicate as many as 153 people were on board when it sank, a journey of roughly 45 kilometres that was expected to take five hours. Among the dead are at least 18 children; the youngest victim was a one-year-old infant. Lake Kariba, which straddles the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia some 350 kilometres north of the capital Harare, is the world's largest artificial lake by volume, formed by a dam built during the British colonial era on the Zambezi River. Boat travel is a necessity for many communities along its shores, where roads are poorly maintained and public transport is scarce.

The disaster has ignited a fierce political debate. Opposition politicians and local residents have criticised the government's handling of both the emergency and the underlying neglect that led to it. According to opposition figures, the sunken ferry required repairs costing around $40,000 — less than the price of vehicles reportedly distributed to lawmakers in exchange for supporting a controversial constitutional amendment — but those repairs were never made. Parliamentary committees had flagged the chronic underfunding of Zimbabwe's inland waterways just last month; only three percent of the transport budget is allocated to this sector. President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared a state of emergency to fund rescue operations and cover survivors' hospital bills, and described the tragedy as exposing "serious deficiencies" requiring immediate action.

But the government's response has drawn sharp criticism on the ground. Local legislator Mutsa Murombedzi reported that bodies left decomposing along the roadside after days in the water were being buried in Kariba town rather than in victims' home communities, and called on the state to send helicopters to transport the dead with dignity. Residents expressed fury at the sight of officials arriving in luxury vehicles while offering only $100 per victim — dead or surviving — in state assistance. Opposition leader Jacob Ngarivhume of Transform Zimbabwe called the sum "a joke and an insult to grieving families." A presidential spokesperson responded by dismissing critics as "a cacophony of pseudo-experts" and urged national unity in the face of tragedy. "The smallest coffins are the hardest to carry," said Murombedzi at the funeral of a four-year-old victim. "Everywhere there are funerals. At every corner you encounter a coffin."