FOR more than three decades, villagers in Gwangwawa area, Rushinga, Mashonaland Central province, have been paying exorbitant amounts for transport to get emergency treatment at either Chimanda Hospital or Nyamatikiti Clinic, both of which are located more than 10 kilometres away.
The nearest health centre, Gwangwawa Clinic, was reportedly abandoned in the 1980s.
“Greedy transport operators took advantage of our plight by charging exorbitant amounts. It was worse when one needed emergency treatment, for example, pregnant women or those who faced life-threatening experiences like snake bites. Transporters connived to demand payment in the form of a cow as a non-negotiable standard fee,” said headman Gwangwawa (born Innocent Murindakana).
All this, however, is about the change, as Gwangwawa Clinic is being turned into a model healthcare centre.
Work on the project is ongoing.
“Government has come to our rescue by speeding up construction of the clinic to alleviate our challenges. There was a lot of confusion and fighting before, as we were desperate to have this clinic, but things failed to fall into place. This is a thing of the past now, as our clinic will be operational soon,” added headman Gwangwawa.
“We are getting support from the Rushinga District Council, which is making use of devolution funds, while our legislator, Cde Tendai Nyabani (ZANU PF), has allocated cash from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for this project.”
The community, he said, was also excited that there have been other developmental projects such as borehole drilling, road rehabilitation and new classroom blocks in schools.
Mrs Chipo Masenda from Mubvumba village said her neighbour’s baby was a stillborn after she failed to raise the money needed to ferry her to hospital.
“She went into labour and there was no transport to take her to Chimhanda Hospital or Nyamatikiti Clinic, resulting in a stillbirth. This is just one of the many incidents that haunted us because we did not have a clinic close by. We have a lot of cases of women giving birth on the roads, on their way to Chimhanda, which is several kilometres away. We are elated that such incidents will be history.”
The elderly, she said, were the most affected.
“I know a number of elderly people who walked to distant clinics. The condition of some of them even got worse after reaching the clinic because of exhaustion. It was really sad.”
According to Mr James Mubvumba, an elderly man from the village, Gwangwawa Clinic used to offer antenatal services during the liberation struggle.
However, it was abandoned soon after the war.
There were earlier attempts to bring it back to life, but the project stalled.
It was only after the advent of the Second Republic that villagers began to see progress.
“The clinic was prioritised when the New Dispensation came into office. We are seeing devolution funds and cash from the Constituency Development Fund being channelled towards the clinic,” said Mr Mubvumba.
“We want to thank the President (Mnangagwa), who said no place and no one will be left behind. We are one of the communities that are not being left behind. The community is excited as their clinic is almost complete.”
The councillor for the area, Alderman Shakespeare Chibundu, said they had established rudimentary health facilities at Gwangwawa primary and secondary schools for emergency treatment and provision of medication, especially considering that the area is prone to malaria.
“What is most exciting about this project (Gwangwawa Clinic) is that it reflects the significance of the devolution programme. We went to the people of Rushinga and asked them which projects they wanted and they mentioned this clinic, and we are now giving it to them,” he said.
In Rushinga district, Gwangwawa, Nyatsato, Bopoma, Katoni and Chomutukutu clinics have been rehabilitated using devolution funds.
Mukosa, Mukonde, Nyamatikiti, Mazowe Bridge, Chimhanda and Chimandau clinics have also been spruced up.
Cde Nyabani said devolution is changing people’s lives in the constituency.
“The district has 21 wards and two hospitals, Marymount and Chimhanda. Our wards are big and pregnant women cannot walk long distances. This is why we sat down with the local authority to establish health posts and more clinics per ward to reduce the distances,” he said.
“We have nine health posts that were constructed since 2018 using devolution and CDF funds. The Government is not leaving anyone and any place behind, and Gwangwawa proves this.” – Sunday Mail
