Urban Flooding: A Case of Ng’ombe Settlement in the City of Lusaka, Zambia

Abstract

Urban flooding has become perennial in most African countries, inducing socio-economic miseries in affected communities. Climate-induced rainfall, community negligence and lack of coordinated infrastructural development policies remain a threat in Africa’s sub-Saharan cities. Zambia’s City of Lusaka and Ng’ombe settlement, in particular, have not been spared from floods. Using a mixed methods approach, the study investigated the causes and effects of flooding in Ng’ombe settlement in the City of Lusaka. A probability sampling method was used to select 147 respondents whose households were severely affected by floods. A non-probability method was used to select key informants. The key informants were the Provincial Disaster Management & Mitigation Coordinator, and Directors of Planning in the Lusaka City Council, Ministry of Local Government & Rural Development, and Ministry of Housing & Urban Development. Questionnaires and interview guides were used for data-gathering from the respondents and key informants, respectively. The study revealed that 43% attributed the cause of flooding to a lack of professionally constructed drainages while 25% mentioned unplanned settlements as a major cause. Unsupervised construction works and indiscriminate waste disposal came out third and fourth at 15% and 13%, respectively. Those who said their properties were damaged by floods stood at 69%, followed by 20%, whose households were affected by waterborne diseases. Out of the 69% of the respondents who had their properties damaged by floods, 24% of them, who were the majority, built the walls of their houses using sun-dried bricks meant for temporal structures. The study concludes that flooding triggers socio-economic miseries in the Ng’ombe settlement. To avert this, the study recommends the following; construction of professionally designed drainages; strict supervision of construction works by the Lusaka City Council; effective systems of solid waste management; regular clearing of drainages; and normalising illegally built houses, where possible