Facets of Death at Lake Kariba: Hydro-accidents and Fatalities

Drawing on the broader literature on death in sub-Saharan Africa, this chapter critically discusses death at Lake Kariba. It engages with the different ways in which death occurs in the Lake and how these deaths are interpreted by locals (and visitors). The ways in which death occurs and is interpreted often alter social and economic lives for the deceased’s kin and family members. Dead bodies themselves, though under-water, continue to influence human actions. Thus, local people regard the dead as living and acknowledge their influence in everyday life. The chapter specifically underscores deaths induced by waves, boats capsizing, human error, ‘political activities’ and suicides. It also discusses the spiritual and religious interpretations of these facets of death within local communities. In general, when people think and scholars write about death at Lake Kariba, they are mainly concerned with deaths resulting from wildlife attacks, as discussed in Chap. 5 . As yet, death resulting from waves, human error and suicide has not received the attention that it deserves in the literature about Kariba. Therefore, the chapter provides a detailed description of the intricacies of water-related death at Lake Kariba.