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Cde Omar

Walter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent
A severe water crisis has crippled operations at Chingwizi Clinic that offers health services to more than 30 000 villagers at the Nuanetsi Ranch and surrounding areas in Mwenezi.

The clinic also caters for families displaced by the Tokwe-Mukosi Dam and were relocated to Chingwizi, four years ago. So precarious is the situation that the clinic is now relying on water fetched by villagers several kilometres away following the drying up of three boreholes that used to supply the health institution.

Chingwizi village health worker, Ms Charity Mangwara told The Herald, the water crisis at the institution that serves villagers within a radius of 70km, started in December last year.

“Villagers here had hoped for a change for the better after construction of Chingwizi clinic, but the situation is now dire because there is no water at the health institution after the three boreholes that used to supply it with water all dried up,” she said.

A village head from Bongo at Chingwizi, Mrs Lydia Siphuma said the clinic was now depending on villagers who were now providing water.

“We agreed as village heads from Bongo, Nyuni, Chikokoko, Tokwe within Chingwizi clinic’s catchment area to mobilise villagers in our areas to take turns to fetch water for the clinic,” said Mrs Siphuma.

She said villagers at Chingwizi had no option except to supply water to the clinic, which offers critical health services to people in the area. Some of the villagers paid glowing tribute to local Member of Parliament Cde Joosbi Omar for assisting with water to keep Chingwizi clinic running.

“Our MP (Mwenezi East Cde Omar) also regularly provides his tractor to fetch water from the few boreholes that are still running.

“However, the only problem is that the tractor is always breaking down forcing villagers to use scotch carts to ferry water to the clinic on a weekly basis,” Mrs Siphuma added. Experts said Government should intervene and install a water pipeline that draws water from the nearby Runde River to the clinic.

Cde Omar said there was urgent need for a permanent solution to the water crisis bedevilling Chingwizi clinic. The Mwenezi East legislator bemoaned the theft of a pump that used to draw water from Triangle to the clinic last year.

Masvingo provincial medical director Dr Amadeaus Shamu conceded that there was a crisis at Chingwizi clinic and said the Ministry of Health and Child Care was grateful to villagers in the area for being proactive by fetching water to keep the health institution running.

“I can confirm we have a challenge of water at Chingwizi clinic, but something will be done soon to solve the problem. We are aware that the clinic needs a permanent water supply solution as the three boreholes that are there can dry up easily,” said Dr Shamu.

Chingwizi clinic was built by Zimbabwe National Army artisans with funding provided by the National Aids Council while a local church, Family of God built modern staff houses.

The state-of-the-art clinic replaced a makeshift facility that was run by an Italian Non-Governmental Organisation, Cesvi, which was overwhelmed by patients.