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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Manicaland Bureau
More than 13 000 villagers in Makoni District will soon benefit from a state-of-the-art clinic constructed by the Rural District Council (RDC) using funds it received from Treasury for devolution projects.

The construction of Nzvimbe Clinic has been on the cards since the 1980s when the resettlement was established, but failed to take off owing to various challenges.

The Nzvimbe area is isolated and for years, villagers faced challenges to access health facilities as the nearest clinic was at least 30km from the furthest part of ward 31.

Some villagers would either across Tsungwei River for facilities in Mutare district or cross Macheke River for facilities in Hwedza district.

After Government released funds for devolution projects last year, Makoni RDC set aside $6 million for the completion of the clinic to add to the $500 000 which had already been channelled towards works on the facility.

Makoni Rural District Council Engineer Edmore Chidembo said council received a total of $13 767 000 for devolution projects last year.

“Devolution funds are targeting projects that uplift the living standards of people. They have to be projects addressing the core challenges of the communities,” he said Eng. Chidembo said the construction of the clinic started in 2014 with the assistance of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, but development was slow owing to economic challenges. After the release of devolution funds, work started on July 1 last year.

He said the clinic was ready for commissioning but council was waiting for approval from the Ministry of Health and Child Care for staff and drugs before opening to the public.

The clinic needs three registered nurses, one nurse aid, one general hand from the community and one environmental health technician.

Currently, one nurse and one EHT have already been deployed and are overseeing the organisation of furniture and equipment available in the wards.

“We will continue with expansion of the clinic to include two more staff houses and a waiting mother’s shelter through the community. We aim to minimise issues of dependency so the community has to be fully involved in the upkeep and development of their health centre,” said Eng Chidembo.

Besides the clinic, Makoni RDC also used the devolution funds to purchase a 12-cubic metre tipper, two tractors, two dump trailers for refuse collection in Nyazura and Headlands, title survey for headlands developments as well as the repair of 18 schools and a clinic damaged by hailstorms.

Although Nzvimbe clinic is yet to be electrified, a solar system has been installed which is pumping water into a 10 000-litre tank supplying potable water to the clinic, the business centre, two schools and the surrounding villages.

Mr Kelvin Chiturike, the environmental health technician at the clinic, said the availability of water at the clinic would go a long way to alleviate the water shortages that the community was facing and reduce disease outbreaks as well.

“Water is being pumped from the borehole about 400 metres away and this has ensured availability of the resource. This area is very dry and due to the drought, some villages are walking long distances to get water or are drawing water from unsafe sources. With water available at the clinic, we are hopeful that we will not record any diarrhoeal disease outbreaks,” he said.

Mrs Tichaidza Zunza, a village health worker, said the completion of the clinic would bring relief to the community as most people had been failing to access health care due to the long distances they had to travel.

“We are hopeful that now Covid-19 lockdown measures are being relaxed, the clinic will be opened to the public so that they can begin to enjoy the fruits of their hard work,” she said.

She said as a village health worker, she had delivered many babies at home and on the road to the clinic as pregnant mothers failed to reach the nearest health facility on time.

She said the clinic would reduce the burden on the village health care workers.

Mr Luxon Chinoshava from Nzvimbe Village 10 expressed his appreciation to council for prioritising the clinic.

“We are very happy that the clinic has been completed because it has taken a long time under construction. Our community will benefit a lot from the health services as well as the water we are getting from here. As a community, we will play our part to make sure that the facility is well taken care of and not vandalised. We have suffered for a long time ,but that will soon be over,” he said.

The Government disbursed $657 million to local authorities for devolution last year. Treasury expects to increase that amount in the next cycle.