Courage Dutiro
Masvingo Urban legislator Jacob Nyokanhete has promised to build a waiting mothers’ home at Rujeko Clinic using the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) which will see many expecting mothers staying at the clinic before delivering.
At present, expecting mothers can only be attended to when they are due but there is no space to keep them if they encounter any delays.
Nyokanhete’s promise comes as a relief to expecting mothers who travel long distances to deliver their babies at Rujeko Clinic only to be told to go back home because they will be a day or two early.
Speaking to Rujeko residents at a feedback dialogue meeting last week, Nyokanhete said once the CDF is released, it will be channelled towards the development of a waiting mothers’ home at the clinic.
“Rujeko is a big location now and you also deserve bigger services. Our clinic here is at times overwhelmed by the number of people who visit it and we want to capacitate to cope with the demand.
“We know they do not have any shelter for waiting mothers and we say we are going to build it for them. The money is not much but we will do what we can with the resources we have.
“No expecting mother should be send back home when their due dates are delayed. They should stay at the waiting shelter until their time has come,” said Nyokanhete.
Rujeko Clinic only operates for eight hours a day and residents called for a 24 hour service to cater for emergencies.
This year the government has raised the CDF from $50 000 to $80 000, money which is not enough to develop anything in any constituency.
