By Desire Tshuma
KARIBA — On the morning of 11 August 2026, the RIDA vessel, Registration Number KF551, left on what should have been a routine voyage across Lake Kariba. It never returned as expected.
What happened on those dark waters that day remains the question haunting families, fishermen, and an entire nation that uses its inland waters to live, trade and travel.
Now, the state has moved to answer it.
On 14 August 2026, His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa approved the appointment of a Board of Inquiry into the RIDA shipping casualty. The appointment was made by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, in terms of Section 25 (5) of the Inland Waters Shipping Act [Chapter 13:06].
It is a decision that signals the gravity of the tragedy and the government’s determination to ensure that no family is left without answers.
The appointment was formally promulgated through General Notice 1934/2026 on 2 October 2026, marking the official start of preparations for the commencement of the Inquiry.
The Board is chaired by a man known for his independence and legal rigour, the Honourable Justice J. M. Mafusire, a Judge of the Supreme Court. He is joined by Commissioner Dr. W. Makamache and Advocate P. Musarurwa.
It is a three-member, independent panel — not a committee of administrators, but a quasi-judicial body with the power to demand the truth.
Its mandate is wide and searching. The Board will investigate the causes and circumstances of the casualty, the vessel’s passenger and freight capacity and loading standards, and its search and rescue capabilities.
It will also examine the vessel’s registration, certification and fitness, and the competence of the people who procured, owned, operated and navigated it. The Board is also empowered to pursue any other matters it deems fit to establish the full truth.
In its pursuit of accountability, the Board may use its quasi-judicial discretion, founded in law and best practice, to subpoena anyone — including those who constituted it.
No one is above the Inquiry.
Hearings will be held in Kariba, where the tragedy occurred, where the families live, and where the evidence lies. The Inquiry shall run for three months, with the possibility of an extension of a further one month if the Board requires more time to complete its work.
Government’s administrative and logistical support to the Board will be provided by a Secretariat headed by its Secretary, Engineer P.J. Makumbe, who is not a Member of the Board.
For the families who lost loved ones, the Inquiry is more than a legal process. It is a chance for closure.
The findings shall bring closure to the relatives of the deceased with regards to the circumstances of the deaths, and also inform policy by shaping future shipping and navigation policies and operations for the best interest of public safety and security in inland waters shipping.
On completion, a report will be submitted by the Board to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development.
For Zimbabwe, the RIDA Inquiry is a test — of transparency, of justice, and of whether the country can turn tragedy into safer waters for generations to come.