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Sibongile Maruta  Sports Reporter

THE annual Danhiko Paralympic Games have become the latest casualties of the cholera outbreak that hit Harare with the event’s organisers posting this year’s competition which had been scheduled for September 27-130 in the capital.

The current cholera outbreak that has already claimed 35 lives and the Danhiko Project have chosen a cautious approach and postponed the 30th edition of the Games indefinitely. 

Every year the organisation hosts the Danhiko Annual Paralympic Games which draws participants from clubs, schools, resource centres, universities from all over Zimbabwe and the Southern African region.

These games give an opportunity to people with disability to take part in sporting activities which are not readily available in their communities, schools and other institutions of higher learning.

The sporting disciplines available include wheelchair basketball, soccer for hearing impaired, visual impaired and intellectually challenged, track and field events, slalom, goal ball, swimming, net ball and wheelchair tennis.

In a statement, chairperson of the board of trustees Elizabeth Marowa said the postponement was view of the cholera outbreak which has been declared by the Ministry of Health and Childcare as a state emergency.

“The Danhiko board of trustees wishes to announce the postponement of the 30th edition of the Danhiko annual Paralympic Games scheduled for 27 to 30 September. This decision has been arrived at in consultation with medical stakeholders particularly city health department.

“Once the situation has normalised new dates of the games will be communicated to teams, partners and all stakeholders,” Marowa said.

Marowa also said “the postponement of the games is part of the effort by the board of trustees to help authorities in the fight against this deadly disease and also in the view of the vulnerability of particular stakeholders being people with disabilities”. Danhiko Project was established in 1982, and it’s centred firmly on the deliverance of quality education, training and production for the disabled and the disadvantaged people within the society.