It is 5:30pm in the suburb of Warren Park, about 10km south of the capital, Harare. The main roads in the suburb are busy as people are going home from work. Some disembark from kombis and buses; some ride bicycles whilst some walk, especially from the Willowvale industrial area. Women can also be seen heading home with firewood on top of their heads.

As one approaches the houses, a cloud of smoke can be seen (something like mist or fog). It is actually smoke- from the fires lit by residents who will be preparing evening meals. This suburb is just one of the few which have gone for days without electricity.

The same also applies to residents of suburbs like Glen View, Highfields and Glen Norah, among others which have gone for nearly a week without electricity. Some areas receive power supplies, but only for one or two days.

To many urban dwellers, this life is worse than that being experienced by people living in rural areas, mainly owing to power and water cuts.

Belinda Mutuda, a mother of two says village life is better than city life, especially when power cuts persist like this. The situation is even worst when there are no water supplies.

"In rural areas one does not need to buy firewood. Firewood now costs $3.5 million and that is enough only to prepare a single mea

"This means to prepare 3 meals a days, I need $10.5 million. This is very expensive," she said.

Zimbabwe's electricity problems date back to as early as 2003 when the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) had many debts and could not refurbish its infrastructure and equipment especially at the Hwange and Kariba stations.

During the first week of 2008, Mozambican power utilities Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) and Electrica de Mozambique suspended supplies to Zimbabwe over a ballooning debt.

Mutuda said despite all the stress and boredom brought by power cuts such as no access to television and radio, substitutes of electrical power have become more expensive.

“A 750ml bottle of paraffin now costs $3 million whilst a single candle ranges from $900 000 to $1.7 million," she added.

However, the power utility continuously and mainly blames the constant power cuts on thieves who steal equipment such as cables, oil, among other things.

Jonathan Muroyiwa indicates owing to the harsh economic climate and unemployment, black market traders now buy opaque beer from shops and supermarkets, especially during the day and sell the beer to guzzlers at almost double the price at night.

"When there are power cuts, shops close business early- around 7pm and this means brisk business for black market traders who take advantage of the situation."

"2 litres of opaque beer fetches for $2 million as compared to the $1.3 or $1.5 price for shops," he said.

In most high and low density suburbs, people are at times seen carrying containers of water which they would have fetched mainly from unprotected wells and boreholes.

Last year and this year, some suburbs have been hit by water borne diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera.

Harare and Chitungwiza residents recently went without water supplies for a week following major electricity power cuts at ZINWA’s Morton Jaffray Waterworks in the capital. In Mabvuku and Tafara, water cuts are reported to have become a way of life.

A Hatfield suburb resident who preferred anonymity said it is sad to realise that despite the fact that urban dwellers pay water bills, they are not receiving proper and constant supplies.

"At home, we keep as many containers as possible, when supplies resume, we fill them up because we now know we do not receive constant supplies."

"People living in rural areas are blessed because they can have water anytime of the day and it's for free," she said.

The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare recently indicated due to water cuts in Harare, at least 10 people had died from diarrhoea last month.

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