Mzimba hospital guardian shelter in bad state
Guardians at Mzimba District Hospital are at risk of waterborne diseases and ailments resulting from poor hygiene such as cholera, due to bad state of a guardian shelter which lets in rain water.
The shelter, which is housing over 100 guardians, has latrines which are full, poorly taken-care-of rubbish pit and no kitchen, making life harder for the users when it rains.
“We are forced to wake up and remain standing when it rains at night because rain water gets in through spaces. We don’t even have space to keep firewood. Life is really hard for us,” said the shelter’s chairperson Catherine Tembo.
During a council meeting MamaYe organised on health budget transparency and accountability on Thursday, Pelekezi Ward councillor Andrew Tembo called on the district’s 11 members of Parliament (MPs) to contribute K3 million each from their Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to the construction of a new guardian shelter.
Mzimba Solola MP Jacobs Hara said in an interview that the idea was viable considering that the hospital serves the whole district.
“If my colleagues would be comfortable with it, I think that is fair enough because it is hard to source such funds from one constituency because this hospital is for us all in Mzimba,” he said.
His counterpart in Mzimba South West constituency, Khumbo Kachali, also welcomed the idea, saying the issue needs to be taken care of immediately.
“I didn’t know that the situation is that bad. AlI I can say is we need a guardian shelter at the hospital. I know the importance of a guardian shelter, especially during the rainy season,” he said.
But Mzimba West legislator Harry Mkandawire said he needed to consult his constituents. n
