Munyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
Gokwe-Kana Member of Parliament Cde Owen Ncube has donated $30 000 worth of roofing material for the completion of Katema Clinic in Marapira area under Chief Jiri, Gokwe South, which will service a population of more than 30 000.

Cde Ncube donated trusses, poles and asbestos for the strategic clinic, which will service the Jiri community which has been travelling for over 25 km to Lupane in Matabeleland North to access health facilities. The Gokwe-Kana legislator also donated building material worth more than $50 000 to local schools and helped in the electrification of close to 10 primary and secondary schools, and three clinics.

He also helped in the construction of Mkoka, Musala and Marapira clinics.

Speaking while handing over the building material, Cde Ncube said there was need to increase accessibility to health facilities by people from Gokwe-Kana who previously have been lagging behind in terms of development.

He said there have been cases of maternal deaths in the area due to inadequate health facilities that could accommodate or attract midwives.

“Katema Clinic is very strategic in that all the people within the 20km radius would be able to access the health facility. Most people used to travel to Matabeleland North to access health facilities and medical treatment. When I became a Member of Parliament for this area there were serious cases of maternal deaths as well as infant mortality because most women would give birth in homes or on their way to clinics without the assistance of proper and professional health personnel. We then constructed this clinic to help our local people,” he said.

Katema Clinic serves over 15 000 households in Gokwe and has the capacity of more than 20 beds and a maternity ward. A villager, Mrs Evangelista Mupondi, said villagers used to walk over 20km to access health facilities and sometimes pregnant women give birth either at home or on their way to hospital due to the inaccessibility of health facilities.

“The problem we had was we are situated between two rivers and in summer people would die without seeking medical attention due to inaccessibility of health facilities. Pregnant women would sometimes die giving birth because there won’t be experienced midwives to assist them deliver. Our MP has really extricated us from this predicament because we were failing to access medical facilities,” she said.

Headman Josiah Katema said they never thought they would have a clinic until Cde Ncube brought the idea.

“Some of the MPs whom we used to vote for never used to come back to the electorate to fulfil their promises. Cde Ncube has helped our community to have access to health facilities and has helped in the renovation and construction of new blocks at Katema Primary School. He has also pledged to help us construct a secondary school. Our children are walking over 20km to school and this makes our little girls vulnerable and prone to abuse. Some have dropped out of school,” he said.

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