Lovemore Chazingwa
Kadoma City-The new maternity wing for Rimuka Family Home (RFH) has been lying idle five years after construction, with authorities continually indicating that it will be commissioned ‘soon’.
During an all stakeholders meeting held at Odyssey Conference Centre in the third quarter (Q3), 2024, finance director Faustina Zhou indicated in her presentation that according to council timelines, the facility was to open at the beginning of Q4, of the same year, contrary to what obtains to date on the ground.
When The Midweek Watch contacted Kadoma Mayor, Cllr Nigel Ruzario on the matter he kept promising to provide a more comprehensive response, but had not done so until the time of posting the story.
“I’m yet to get the correct position from officials privy to the situation on the ground. We were supposed to have it commissioned sometime this year by Minister of State for Mashonaland West province, Hon. Marian Chombo but, heard she was not feeling well and have to wait for her availability.
“There were workmen putting final touches to some parts of a section under construction there. I’ve been informed they should be done anytime now. I will keep you abreast of developments,” was the Mayor’s last response.
A site visit by this publication showed that there is a whole outpatients external veranda to be completed with some roofing steel structures still to be mounted.
The maternity wing’s start-stop dragging progress is raising eyebrows even among residents.
“We never know when this maternity wing will be opened. It’s just been too long. We’re always asking ourselves since we’re overcrowded in that older wing,” said a mother who preferred anonymity.
The long overdue project caught widespread media attention after four former councillors, all of them female, led by then deputy mayor Tendai Kokera, walked out of a council meeting in protest on the same, two years after construction started.
They went on to wear all black during council business proceedings.
The councillors alleged that it was “arrested development and neglect of a facility specifically meant to benefit women.”
The bold stance prompted some visible headway on the block.
In 2023, there were media reports of suspected fraudulent acts for funds meant for the maternity wing bereft of convincing explanation proffered, save for a blackout on communication regarding the follow up.
A member of the committee handling matters on the project confidentially indicated that devolution funds and a well wisher had provided funds for the full cost of construction of the facility.
Though the devolution component was not clear, the well wisher was said to have injected US$25 000 towards construction of the maternity wing.
Soon afterwards, some notable activity resurfaced only to be followed by a marked dip in tangible work.
The fresh public health maternity wing is earmarked to ease the burden at a family facility serving thousands of residents in and around the city.
RFH maternity was the only public facility handling child birth outside Kadoma General Hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic era, putting more pressure on the already overburdened station.
At its peak, impeccable sources say the critical health facility attends to over 200 expecting mothers a day.
