adminMidlands Bureau Chief
KWEKWE Polytechnic has set up a clinic for HIV services and condoms are now being distributed freely at the institution following a series of fruitful meetings held between officials from the National Aids Council (Nac) and the college.
Midlands HIV and Aids co-ordinator, Mambewu Shumba said he dispatched a team from Nac district offices in Kwekwe to the polytechnic recently resulting in an improved working relationship.
He said: “They (Kwekwe Polytechnic) are very appreciative of the issue. Their vice-principal has since moved and they have a new one. My team led by the district co-ordinator and Maso held discussions and meetings with the college authorities. The authorities said they did not know of the challenges Nac teams were facing at the college in distributing condoms. There is now a clinic which has been opened and things are running accordingly.”
However, Kwekwe Polytechnic principal, Joyce Cephas Mbudzi, said Shumba’s utterances were surprising because his college has always accommodated Nac by attending its meetings and implementing their programmes. Mbudzi dismissed Shumba’s statement as “fictional”.
He said the vice-principal, a nun who was allegedly blocking Nac from distributing condoms at the college left the institution two years ago.
“For starters, the said nun was not even a vice-principal.
“She only acted as vice-principal briefly. She was not even allowed to run the college. I have always been here since 1998, running the college. It is not true that we were blocking condom distribution here. Shumba’s words came as a surprise.
“We have always been distributing condoms freely. There is no way we can block the exercise since we want our students to have protection. They are, after all, adults,” he said.
Mbudzi said the college’s clinic has been running since last year, dismissing Nac claims that it only started operating after holding meetings with the college.
He said: “The clinic was built last year and has been open for some time now. We always send our students to Nac meetings and we participate in various Nac programmes.
“Shumba had nothing to say to the Press and he was just making unsubstantiated claims just to please the Press.
“The nun, if she did say anything that is anti-condom, was just expressing her personal opinion. There is nothing that occurred to disturb our running philosophy and principles as a college.”
Nac alleged earlier this week that Roman Catholic-run Zhombe Mission Hospital in Kwekwe rural and a Catholic nun at Kwekwe Polytechnic were blocking the distribution of condoms at the two institutions.
The use of artificial contraceptives like condoms and the pill is against the dictates and doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church which believes in the natural laws of birth control.
derick.khumalo