The illegal movement of immigrants from Zambia into Zimbabwe, and vice versa, is now rampant due to receding water levels in the Zambezi River that separates the two neighbouring countries.
The reduced water volume is as a result of the current drought wrought by the El Nino-induced weather pattern characterised by low rainfall.
Border authorities say the crocodile-infested river, when in flood, is a deterrent on its own, and helps in reducing cases of illegal movement of human traffic as well as smuggling of goods.
Acting Immigration regional manager, Morgan Moyo told a visiting delegation of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce recently that Chirundu One-Stop Border Post is porous as travellers can evade immigration formalities and enter and leave the country through various illegal crossing points along the river.
"We used to be proud of our river, the Zambezi, it used to be always full and infested with crocodiles and was a deterrent enough to stop illegal crossing.
"But as we are talking right now, the water has receded to levels that you have never seen before. People can now cross easily along any part of the Zambezi," Moyo told parliamentarians.
"What that means is, all those illegal entrants are now taking advantage, and we cannot even monitor that because some crossing points are within the national park.
"Chirundu One-Stop Border Post is situated within a national park and what it means is that we cannot do land patrols in a national park lest we will be confused for poachers," he said.
The Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority (ZimParks) management has pledged additional rangers to patrol the border and use drones to help spot border jumpers, Moyo added.
He urged Members of Parliament (MPs) to harmonise laws inorder to expedite clearing processes and procedures between the neighbouring countries.
"We need legislation that harmonises our processes, not only for Zimbabwe but Zambia as well. That will enable us to allow our one-stop-border post to be fully-fledge and then we can talk of time reduction in terms of times travellers and truckers spend at the border," Moyo said.
"At the moment, we have put all our traditional processes in one room, but we have not managed to reduce the time as we would want...in terms of the one-stop-border process, we are lagging behind.
"We urge you as legislators to ensure that our laws are harmonised, that even working hours are harmonised."
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) regional manager Angeline Mashiri attributed delays being experienced by truckers at the border post to infrastructure deficiencies.
She said there is need to spruce the point of entry and exit situated in the midst of a national park.
"Modernisation has become very important. The flow of traffic, human and cargo, is affected by the structure of the border post," said Mashiri.
"Since the two border posts on the Zimbabwean and Zambian sides were built, we have not yet implemented the one-stop-border concept...there is criss-crossing of traffic within the control zone."
She said if the border post is upgraded the authority will then be able to install state-of-the-art surveillance scanners and use drones to curb smuggling.
Ngonidzashe Mudekunye, chairperson of the lndustry and Commerce Parliamentary Portfolio, said his committee was on a fact-finding mission on how it can advise agencies to improve ease of doing business.
"Our mandate is in line with the President's mantra of 'Zimbabwe is open for business'. We are here to try and see how efficiencies can be improved at the border whilst revenue is being collected, whilst laws and regulations are being complied with, how can we improve doing business here?"
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"At Chirundu, there are issues that need to be addressed. You have seen queues, lots and lots of trucks. We have been told there are procedures that need to be synchronised between Zambia and Zimbabwe," said Mudekunye.
"We have also been told that the Zimbabwean side teams can do more with a bit of more resources like more officers, more computers, a bit of comfortable offices because some of the offices are a bit of a challenge. So, these are things we are looking at, so we recommend to government to improve," the Buhera South Member of Parliament added.
Transport operators have urged government to streamline cumbersome ports of entry import customs clearance processes, describing the current regulations as counterproductive.
Chirundu border post is set to undergo a major facelift estimated to gobble US$66.8 million following the signing of a public-private partnership between the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development and the Chirundu Border Consortium, a joint venture of local firms.
