Brighton Chiseva
MWENEZI – In an act of vandalism and antidevelopment, villagers from ward 2 in Mwenezi district are alleged to have vandalised security fence that was erected around Neshuro District Hospital only to create a shorter route to the hospital.
Mwenezi East legislator Master Makope confirmed the incident that happened on December 11 saying they were worried by the act as it exposes patients and hospital staff to some dangers like intrusion.
Makope said he will engage the Chief, ward councillor and other relevant stakeholders to educate the community on the importance of having a secure fence saying the matter was now in the hands of the police and perpetrators would be brought to book.
“The fence was recently erected after a long time of none security at the hospital and we were happy with the development but now some locals are not to be happy about the whole issue and they vandalised the fence in protest since nothing was stolen.
“We suspect they are villagers from Matande, Mashindi and Mangezi who have been using a shorter path to the hospital that was blocked with the new fence and they do not want to use the main gate.
“When the fence was erected, it was reported that they complained saying their road had been blocked. Since nothing was stolen we just assumed that it’s that small section of the community who want a shorter way to the hospital,” said Makope.
He said the shorter way passed through the waiting mother’s shelters as well as the maternity wards and this posed a danger to the expecting mothers who risked being robbed and menaced by marauding domestic animals.
“The path passes through the waiting mother’s shelters and at times they were robbed at night while domestic animals have free access to the quarters and are menacing the area. The path also passes through the maternity wards and people would peep through the windows and see activities done inside so the area needs privacy,” added Makope.
He said Neshuro Growth point community has an initiative of getting a neighbourhood watch committee to monitor the growth point since there have been a number of theft cases in the locality though he said the hospital issue was just vandalism no theft.
“There have been cases of theft in the growth point and I heard the community is in the process of establishing a neighbourhood watch committee. I am sure that will also help the hospital,” he added.
