Meet Miraji Simba - the winner of our inaugural Water Warrior award 2019!

When we first asked our sister organisation in Tanzania, Shahidi wa Maji, to nominate an individual to receive the 1st Water Warrior Award, it was a no-brainer for the team.

Miraji Simba is a Mashahidi - or Water Witness. He lives in the Kigogo ward of Dar es Salaam. The community is bordered by the Msimbazi River, which is affected by a toxic mixture of industrial effluent, chemicals, abattoir waste and human sewage currently has a pH of around 12. In times gone by, the Msimbazi river has been a source of water for drinking, domestic use and irrigation, but no longer. Today, this highly polluted river poses an extremely serious health risk to a ¼ of a million people and regular flooding affects over one million residents who live along its banks.

Miraji - along with other Mashahidi - are trained and supported through our Fair Water Futures programme. Mashahidi receive training and mentoring from Shahidi wa Maji to document the water problems facing their community, understand which laws, policies and institutions are relevant to solving their issues, and to take action to hold duty-bearers to account to deliver on their responsibiities under water law and resolve local conflicts.

Miraji immediately stood out to Shahidi as an exceptional Mashahidi because of his deep knowledge of his community’s water issues and the duty bearers with a mandate to ensure their right to a clean environment and sufficient water access in quality and quantity. Due to his tireless efforts in pursuing authorities & service providers, Miraji has helped bring about real changes.

Communities can often feel powerless to protest against polluting industries. Due to Miraji’s efforts, one such local textile industry was reprimanded with a fine by the environment authority in Tanzania. It is typically the poorest communities which lack reliable and sufficient service to piped water supply. Due to Miraji’s persistence, the local water authority in Dar es Salaam has repaired a major break in the piped water supply.

Miraji has built a close working relationship with the Basin Water Authority and due to his persistence, the basin water authority have visited his community to investigate pollution in the Msimbazi river and the Basin Water Authority have created an official position for him as a gauge reader on the Msimbazi river to help with monitoring efforts.

Miraji is our First Water Warrior because he has courage, conviction and is relentless in his pursuit for water justice for his community.