Gweru Urban Constituency Member of Parliament (MP) Brian
Dube, who spearheaded the project through the Constituency Development Fund
(CDF), officially opened the clinic.
Pfende Clinic is in Ward 2, and residents have been
travelling long distances to get medical services at Whawha Clinic or Gweru
Provincial Hospital.
Dube told council officials to make service delivery a
priority. He said the council should hasten to provide services because the
area has low-income families.
“Council should be serious about primary health issues. As
you can see, Pfende is a peri-urban settlement. Most residents here are
low-income families, and they cannot afford private hospitals or doctors. Some
cannot afford bus fare to town or Whawha for medical attention.
“I want to advise the local authority to prioritize health
issues and grow up in the provision of primary service delivery issues,” he
said.
Council Health Director Samson Sekenhamo said late
responses from the Medicines Control Board caused the delay in opening the clinic
to the public. The acquisition of health licenses and the conferment of the
Freedom of The City status to President Emmerson Mnangagwa also contributed to
the delay.
However, residents described excuses by Sekenhamo as lame
as other clinics in the province constructed later are already functional.
A Ward 2 resident Munashe Mkandla said it was prudent for
the local authority to decongest other clinics long back by opening Pfende. He
said the failure of the council to open the clinic on time was political.
“The clinic provides essential services to the community,
and as residents, we were worried that Government wasted resources on something
that remains a white elephant for such a long time.
“People with political gains should not control council by
depriving its residents of key service delivery issues,” he said. Masvingo
Mirror
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