By Beatific Gumbwanda
A heated debate erupted in the National Assembly last week after outspoken Chiredzi Central Member of Parliament Ropafadzo Makumire tabled a motion urging the government to declare Zimbabwe’s public health system a state of emergency.
The motion cited collapsing infrastructure, shortages of essential medicines and equipment, power and water cuts, and a rise in preventable deaths, particularly among women during childbirth.
Makumire argued that Zimbabwe’s constitutional right to healthcare, guaranteed under Section 76, had become a privilege only a few can access.
He alleged that more than 250 preventable deaths had been recorded at major referral hospitals in 2024 due to shortages of drugs, oxygen, surgical supplies, and clean water.
“At Parirenyatwa Hospital and other central, provincial, and district hospitals, patients are routinely asked to bring their own painkillers, cotton wool, and surgical gloves. This highlights the depth of underfunding and resource scarcity.
“Patients often sleep on the floor due to lack of beds, and hospital kitchens frequently run out of food. Many facilities suffer from peeling paint, leaking roofs, broken windows, and outdated equipment,” said Makumire.
He specifically highlighted conditions at Chiredzi General Hospital where he said expecting mothers were sleeping on the floor.
“Maternity patients sleep on the floor and must bring their own supplies. The facility relies on aging generators due to constant power outages. Mortuaries are in disrepair, and surgical patients are often referred to private hospitals or left untreated,” said Makumire.
He said the dire situation reflected a systematic neglect where underinvestment, poor planning, and misplaced priorities have reduced public health facilities to places of suffering.
The motion triggered strong pushback from government benches where ZANU PF Chief Whip Pupurai Togarepi dismissed Makumire’s claims, accusing him of “lying” and demonizing the country.
“Mr. Speaker Sir, we cannot allow the gentleman to continue lying. Here at this Parliament, if he wants to go to the clinic, he will be treated. If you go to Parirenyatwa today, you will see doctors and nurses providing health services. Is he supposed to be a Zimbabwean, or are we dealing with a foreigner? Our hospitals are being renovated and new ones built. Yes, we have problems, but not collapse,” said Togarepi.
Other ruling party MPs, including Shamva south’s Joseph Mapiki and Bindura South’s Toendepi Remigious Matangira, supported thie view.
They praised President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s hospital visits and refurbishment efforts, blaming local councils, international sanctions, and mismanagement for many of the sector’s challenges.
Opposition MPs, however, backed the motion. Warren Park MP Shakespear Hamauswa argued that the President’s own visits to hospitals acknowledged the severity of the crisis.
Norton MP Richard Tsvangirai pointed to the lack of dialysis and diagnostic machines in district hospitals, which forces patients to travel long distances at great cost.
Mashonaland West PR MP Mutsa Francisca Murombedzi added that the withholding of budgeted health funds by Treasury was a violation of the Constitution emphasizing that healthcare was not a privilege for the rich but a right for all.
The debate revealed stark divisions in assessing the state of Zimbabwe’s public health system. The opposition continues to demand emergency intervention, while the ruling party emphasizes ongoing reforms and resists the term collapse.
