Mnangagwa to fly from Harare to Lupane to commission just a clinic

PUPU Clinic in Lupane District is now complete and ready for commissioning by President Mnangagwa, with authorities now set to deploy the medical personnel next week.

Funded by the Government through devolution funds, the imposing health facility comprises two wards for males and females, a labour ward, a post-natal ward, a vaccination room, a consultation room and a pharmacy.

The clinic has a spacious waiting room, a screening room, and a maternity ward with delivery and post-natal rooms with showers and toilets.

The immaculate facility has been tiled with fitted cupboards. There are also two blocks of staff cottages, each accommodating four families. A solar-powered borehole supplies the clinic with water. The dispensary is also stocked with drugs and other consumables.

Pupu Clinic will be manned by two qualified nurses, a nurse aide, a general hand, and an environmental health technician.

In an interview, Kusile Rural District Council chief executive officer, Mr Sifiso Hadebe, said nurses will be deployed to the clinic on Monday next week.

"Pupu Clinic is now complete and on Monday next week, nurses will start attending to patients. We also fenced the clinic, which will soon be commissioned by His Excellency President Mnangagwa," he said.

Mr Hadebe said Pupu Clinic, which has come as a huge relief to villagers, will revolutionise health services in the area.

Community sister-in-charge of Lupane district, Ms Thabani Tshuma,  recently told the Chronicle that Pupu Clinic, with a catchment of 12 000, will address the issue of risky home deliveries.

She said the facility will cater to most of the people, who used to rely on St Paul's and Gomoza clinics. Sister Tshuma said failure to access healthcare resulted in the spread of communicable diseases and ultimately an outbreak.

Devolution funds have transformed the health sector, with new clinics emerging in several districts in Matebeleland as the Second Republic steps up the inclusive development philosophy of leaving no one and no place behind.

The programme has helped local authorities in Matebeleland and other parts of the country improve access to health services, particularly in rural areas, where a majority of citizens walked long distances to access services.

Leaving no one and no place behind has become synonymous with the leadership of President Mnangagwa, who has made it a buzz phrase that has found resonance among the people in both rural and urban areas.

Mr Hadebe said through devolution funds, the local authority is also implementing several projects in the district using devolution funds and these include the rehabilitation of classroom blocks in several schools and the construction of clinics in Dumoluhle, Daluka, Somgolo, and Tiki among other areas.

"We have Tiki Clinic that we are also constructing and so far we are building a cottage and it is now at roofing level. We are also mobilising funds, so that we put in another accommodation facility,  so that we have more nurses," he said.

"In terms of devolution, we have done several projects, but due to the delay in the release of funds, some of them are still pending and at between 85 and 90 percent. We are looking forward to completing the projects when we get the funds."

Mr Hadebe said this year, the local authority got $3,3 billion in devolution funds and they are expecting their allocation anytime from now.

"We also have institutions that were destroyed by whirlwinds and some schools, and we have eight classroom room blocks at Tiki Secondary that have been affected and four cottages. When we get funds ,we need to attend to those as part of our emergency response," he said.