Chronicle Editor
Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
IF devolution has a face, villagers in Mberengwa will point to Garinyama Clinic and in Gokwe South, they will show you Mapfungautsi Clinic.
These are just but two of the many examples of how Mberengwa Rural District Council and Gokwe Town Council have been successfully using devolution funds from Government to improve the lives of villagers and residents.
Devolution has been widely embraced in Zimbabwe since the New Dispensation under President Mnangagwa indicated it was pushing a developmental trajectory.
A Chronicle news crew visited Mberengwa RDC and Gokwe Town where there are a number of projects that are being undertaken to improve service delivery.
Just like other local authorities’ countrywide, Mberengwa RDC started receiving devolution funds in 2019 and to date has received a total sum of $228 102 599.
An excited Mberengwa RDC chief executive Mr Thompson Maeresera said in the early stages of the disbursements they embarked on a number of projects including the construction of two clinics namely Marirazhombe in Mberengwa West Constituency, Ward 13 and Bayayi in Mberengwa East Constituency, Ward 20.
The clinics, he said, are now 90 percent complete.
The RDC also purchased a 15 tonne tipper truck, backhoe loader, tractor and dumper to enhance service delivery.
“We also purchased a vehicle so that we effectively and efficiently supervise and monitor all our projects. We also committed the funds into the WASH programme where we managed to mechanize a borehole at Mataga Growth Point in order to alleviate water shortages. We went further to electrify the currently incomplete Water Treatment Plant at Mundi Mataga Dam,” he said.
Mr Maeresera said in terms of waste management, they constructed a refuse cage at Mberengwa Centre where refuse is dumped before it is sent to a designated dumping area.
They also rehabilitated six schools and one clinic that had been damaged during the 2019/2020 rain season.
“Now pupils and patients have shelter at the schools or at the clinic. We further purchased ICT hardware for enhanced management of accounting and all other information,” he said.
As more disbursements were received, Mr Maeresera said they committed themselves to additional projects focusing on the health sector once again that saw Madhekwana Clinic in Mberengwa East Constituency, Ward 8 and Garinyama Clinic in Mberengwa South Constituency, Ward 19, coming on board thereby making them four funded through devolution funds.
“We expect one of these to be 100 percent complete in the third quarter and two also to be 100 percent complete in the fourth quarter of this year. Our aim is to reduce distances travelled by communities seeking medical care and to increase maternal services to expecting mothers,” he said.
In trying to increase efficiency on service delivery in terms of having trafficable roads in the district, Mr Maeresera said they are planning to add another grader.
“We have looked at the kind of machinery we have at the moment and said to ourselves why not have another grader so that we have two complementing each other leading to more efficiency when it comes to our infrastructure maintenance. Hence, we have committed funds towards purchasing a grader to complement the only one we currently have. We have gone further again to commit funds towards ICT evolution to enhance our accounting and other information systems. This is now work in progress in terms of installation and staff training,” he said.
Mr Maeresera said Mapfungautsi clinic should be commissioned by the end of next month and is expected to lessen the pressure on Gokwe South District Hospital.
Roads in Mapfungautsi suburb are being rehabilitated to make them passable since they are originally sand soils and council is putting gravel.
In an interview, Mr Shingirayi Manyangadze, town planning officer for Gokwe Town Council said devolution funds were making a difference for the people.
“Here we have proof of how US$7 million – Mapfungautsi clinic which will be a polyclinic that will specialise on maternal health and also an outpatient department. We want to have a visiting doctor and as time goes on a permanent doctor,” he said.
Mr Manyangadze said the clinic would be finished by the end of August.
“We are busy working on final works like plumbing, flooring, Zesa, doors fitting and ceiling. After that will be done and we paint and then commissioning. Papers to register with the Health Professional Authority have been done; it would be a polyclinic,” he said.
Plans to install solar power as a back up are underway as well as to drill a borehole so that there is constant supply of water.
“Devolution funds are working and this is an example of how Gokwe Town Council has been using the fund for the benefit of the residents and the district as a whole,” he said.
There is no doubt that with deliberate efforts directed towards uplifting communities, devolution has the potential to bring fundamental changes to the developmental trajectory of the country.
What is unique about devolution is that it brings the decision-making process closer to local communities that are in a position to know the areas that need immediate attention for a quick turnaround.
The number of projects that have already taken off under devolution, even in the absence of the provincial and metropolitan councils, clearly indicate the success of this programme.
Online Reporter