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Municipal Correspondent

The High Court has ordered Chitungwiza Town Council to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for its workers to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The decision is meant to protect the workers against the risk of contracting Covid-19.

High Court judge Justice Sylvia Chirau-Mugomba handed down the order on May 15 after Chitungwiza Municipal Workers Union and Trustees of the Chitungwiza Residents Trust sued for neglect.

“The respondent is ordered to provide adequate Personal Protective Equipment to its employees to protect them against the risk of contracting Covid-19 (coronavirus) during the scope and course of their employment save for all health workers as they are already covered by the Ministry of Health and Child Care,” reads the order.

Chitungwiza residents were represented by Mr Denford Halimani of Wintertons and a member of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights while the council was represented by Mr Rodgers Matsikidze.

The residents sued the local authority after its nurses recently went on strike, attending to maternal emergencies only, citing lack of Covid-19 PPE, lockdown allowances, and poor working conditions.

The health personnel were eventually given PPEs after council clinics were taken over by central Government.