Kariba – For the Samanyanga family, the burial of Memory Chaka and her 11 month old son, Lyell, brought a measure of sorrowful finality, but not closure.

As they laid mother and child to rest, the search for two other children, an eight year old son and a 13 year old nephew continued on the vast waters of Lake Kariba, their fate still unknown. Across the community, Marshall Kwangara buried his two year old son, Mukudzeyi, while his wife remained missing, the anguish of mourning and hoping colliding in a single, unbearable moment.

These are the human faces behind the tragedy that unfolded on 11 August 2026, when the RIDA vessel, Registration Number KF551, met its fate on the lake, leaving a trail of grief and unanswered questions.

The families who gathered at the shores of Lake Kariba in the days following 11 August 2026, the vast waters that once promised livelihood and connection became a source of unbearable sorrow. The tragedy that unfolded when the RIDA vessel, Registration Number KF551, met its fate on the lake left a trail of grief, unanswered questions, and a community demanding to know what went wrong

It is for these families and for the nation, that President Emmerson Mnangagwa, approved the appointment of a Board of Inquiry into the RIDA shipping vessel casualty, a process now formally underway following the promulgation of General Notice 1934/2026 on 2 October 2026.

The Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Felix Mhona has appointed an independent three-member Board of Inquiry in terms of Section 25 (5) of the Inland Shipping Waters Act [Chapter 13:06], marking a significant step towards accountability and closure.

The Board is chaired by the Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Joseph Martin Mafusire, and includes Commissioner Dr. Wiklef Makamache and Advocate Patronella Musarurwa as members. Their collective expertise is expected to bring rigour and impartiality to a process that has captured national attention.

The tragedy itself has left an indelible mark on the nation. On 11 August 2026, the RIDA vessel was involved in a casualty on Lake Kariba, an incident that has since raised urgent questions about safety standards, regulatory oversight, and the adequacy of emergency response mechanisms on Zimbabwe’s inland waters.

The disaster claimed dozens of lives and left several families with no bodies to bury, including the family of Kariba MP Shine Gwangwava, whose sister, Matilda Musemwa Gwangwava, a 42-year-old mother of three, was among the missing. Weeks later, authorities acknowledged that about nine families were still waiting to identify and collect the bodies of their loved ones.

The Terms of Reference for the Board are comprehensive and far-reaching. The inquiry is tasked with investigating the causes and circumstances of the casualty; examining vessel passenger and freight capacity and loading standards; assessing search and rescue capabilities; reviewing the vessel’s registration, certification, and fitness; and evaluating the competence of the actors who procured, owned, operated, and navigated the vessel. The Board may also investigate any other matters it deems fit in the interest of justice and public safety.

The Board may, using its quasi-judicial discretion founded in law and best practices of administering quasi-judicial bodies of this nature, subpoena anyone, including those who constituted it. This power underscores the government’s commitment to ensuring that the inquiry is thorough, transparent, and unhindered.

Hearings will be conducted in Kariba, bringing the process directly to the community most affected by the tragedy. The Inquiry shall run for three months, with the possibility of an extension of a further one month should the complexity of the matters require additional time.

Government’s administrative and logistical support towards the Board of Inquiry will be provided by the Secretariat, headed by its Secretary, Engineer Joy Makumbe, who is not a Member of the Board, ensuring a clear separation between administrative support and the Board’s independent adjudicative function.

The findings of the inquiry are expected to serve a dual purpose. For the relatives of the deceased, and for those who never found their loved ones, they shall bring closure with regards to the circumstances of deaths. For the nation, the findings will inform policy by shaping future shipping and navigation policies and operations for the best interest of public safety and security in inland waters shipping.

A report will be submitted by the Board to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development on completion of the Inquiry.

As the people of Kariba continue to mourn, some with graves to visit, others with only the water and their unanswered questions, the commencement of this Board of Inquiry represents a critical step in the journey towards healing and accountability.

For families like the Samanyangas and the Kwangaras, the hope is that justice and closure will emerge from the depths of the lake’s sorrow, and that no other family will have to endure the same pain.