Gweru flagged over financing of health and education sectors – Newsday Zimbabwe

The call came after residents said the municipality was failing them with unfulfilled promises to build more clinics and schools.

The GWERU City Council has come under scrutiny for its failure to channel financial resources into adequate health and education services.

Speaking on the sidelines of a pre-budget sensitization meeting jointly held by Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (Viset) and Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association, Viset managing director Samuel Wadzai said the municipality must plan its finances to promote health and improve the city’s education. services.

The call came after residents said the municipality was failing them with unfulfilled promises to build more clinics and schools.

“The public financial management system of Gweru Municipality must support health and education service delivery. The Council proposes to increase consultation fees at local clinics by 100%, but there are no significant changes in the healthcare sector that contribute to the well-being of residents,” Wadzai said.

“In education, the teacher-student ratio in municipal schools is shocking as you find that one teacher can guide 70 students at a time. There is hot-sitting in schools. The Council must therefore pay attention to these critical issues and not just focus on raising money.”

He said the council must make the best use of its resources and use finances in accordance with citizens’ expectations to provide public health and education services.

In the 2025 budget, the council proposed increasing consultation fees for local clinics from $5.20 to $10.

However, residents said that instead of increasing rates, the municipality should focus on refurbishing the Mkoba 1 clinic so that it can provide maternity care.

Only the Mkoba Outpatient Clinic provides maternal health services to the densely populated suburbs of Mkoba.

The other clinic offering such services is Mtapa.

However, in his presentation at a recent budget consultation meeting, Assistant Finance Director Owen Masimba said the council had identified a piece of land in Mkoba18 to build a clinic.

He said the municipality had initially planned to turn the Mkoba 18 vending bar into a clinic, but the plan had stalled.

Masimba said plans to convert the Mkoba 4 factory shells into a satellite school had also failed, but noted that the municipality had identified another site to build a new school.

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