Health minister David Parirenyatwa has come under fire from
Gweru residents after he blamed council for the typhoid outbreak that has
claimed six lives in the city.
Parirenyatwa, who recently toured health centres where
scores of other patients are admitted, blamed the MDC-controlled council for
the outbreak.
However, residents’ representatives have come out guns
blazing accusing the minister of insensitivity and dishonesty.
“The central government itself has not been disbursing the
grants council must receive from the fiscus,” said Charles Mazoredze, the Gweru
Residents’ Forum chairperson.
“The areas that were affected by the outbreak have gone for
about 15 years without water because the council is financially constrained due
to the central government’s failure to disburse the funds that the local
authority is entitled to.”
He said the government should also take the blame because
it had failed to provide solutions.
“We call upon the central government, particularly the
ministries of Health and Local Government, to partner the city council in
providing support to the victims and to find a lasting solution to the
problem,” he said.
Cornelia Selipiwe, the Gweru Residents and Ratepayers’
Association leader, also castigated Parirenyatwa for his statements, saying he
was motivated by a political agenda.
“The minister was fully briefed about the suspected cause
of the typhoid outbreak,” she said.
“We were shocked when he then went onto the podium to say
something different and pretend to be more sympathetic to the victims than the
community and the bereaved themselves. It’s uncalled for and not expected from
a minister.”
Selipiwe deplored the government’s decision to deploy
commissioners to run the affairs of Gweru when there were elected councillors.
“We hear that Enos Size is now the commissioner for the
city. Why that development when we have elected our councillors to lead us?”
“It just shows the government has a hidden agenda to
plunder our resources before the councillors come.”
In the run-up to the elections, Vice-President Constantino
Chiwenga denounced opposition-run urban councils and claimed service delivery
challenges could only be fixed by Zanu PF. Standard
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