Online Reporter
Patrick Chitumba, [email protected]
GOVERNMENT has handed over groceries, toiletries and building materials worth thousands of dollars to Kwekwe District Hospital, Kwekwe Prison and Rugare Old People’s Home in Kwekwe.
The donations were funded using proceeds from the 2026 Midlands Provincial Independence Ball which raised more than US$53 000.
Minister of State for Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Cde Owen Ncube, led the separate handover ceremonies emphasising that charity must go hand in hand with Government’s long-term development agenda.
At Kwekwe Prison, Minister Ncube handed over mealie-meal, rice, sugar, cooking oil, salt, soap, tea leaves, tissues, Vaseline, bins, hard brooms, chunks and 20 bags of cement.
He said the gesture has become an annual event covering all vulnerable communities in the Midlands province.
“This generous gesture covers vulnerable communities in the Midlands Province to enhance the comprehensive Social Safety Nets provided by the Second Republic,” Minister Ncube told inmates and officers.
He emphasised that there is life after prison, adding the Second Republic’s top agenda is to rehabilitate and reintegrate the inmates into society.
Minister Ncube also commended Government for moving away from punishing prisoners to concentrate on rehabilitation and skills development.
He said the establishment of correctional community centres, specialised care for pregnant women, juveniles and persons with disabilities, sentence remissions, and comprehensive health care, had enhanced Government’s rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates into society.
Minister Ncube also praised First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa for her compassionate, consistent and unwavering support for inmates, the elderly, widows, orphans and people with disabilities through her Angel of Hope Foundation.
He commended her for the wellness screening programmes, donation of wheelchairs and theatre packs, establishment of maternity waiting shelters and rehabilitation of victims of drug and substance abuse.
At Kwekwe District Hospital, Minister Ncube handed over goats for slaughter, mealie-meal, sugar, rice, salt, cooking oil and tea leaves to patients and nursing students.
He said the donation resonates with NDS2’s Pillar on Social Development, Gender and Social Protection, which strengthens inclusive safety nets as Zimbabwe moves towards Vision 2030.
“We applaud Government’s health-related safety frameworks, which include the free medical exemptions for pregnant women, children under five and citizens over 60, harmonised social cash transfers, construction of clinics and maternity shelters, the Presidential Emergency Medical Scheme for ambulances, and free nationwide screening for cancer, diabetes and hypertension, “ he said.
“I would also like to recognise the First Lady’s School Feeding and Community Support Programme, Amai’s Traditional Cookout Competition held recently at Mbizo Stadium, Agric4Shee empowerment for women farmers, and climate-smart agriculture promoting drought-resistant traditional grains. These people centred programmes are changing livelihoods,” he said.
At Rugare Old People’s Home and Mary Ward Children’s Home, Minister Ncube donated mealie-meal, cooking oil, sugar, rice, tea leaves, soap, salt, blankets and a goat.
Minister Ncube said the donations were made possible by the business community and individuals who supported the Independence Ball.
He said the Midlands Province has for years channelled Independence Ball proceeds to hospitals, clinics, prisons, old people’s homes and children’s homes.
