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Auxilia Katongomara, Chronicle Reporter
THE Government has taken over the running of Ekusileni Medical Centre and Matabeleland North provincial medical director Dr Nyasha Masuka has been appointed the institution’s care taker.

The specialist medical centre, which is the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo’s brainchild, has failed to open for the past 13 years.

Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa said his Ministry was working on opening the hospital.

“I’m so disappointed about Ekusileni because what is happening is that the people who have been there before went through long legal wrangles on how to untangle it,” said Dr Parirenyatwa in an interview yesterday during a visit to Bulawayo.

“So those legal issues together with the National Social Security have been removed. We have been given the keys now.”

He did not elaborate on how the legal hurdles to pave way for the hospital’s opening have been overcome.

Dr Parirenyatwa said they had appointed Dr Masuka to oversee the institution whose opening has been long awaited. “We have appointed someone, the chief person to run that institution. Dr Masuka, we put him there, he will be running it, to sort of superintend.

“So it is quite unjust that we leave it vacant. So we are really empowering the person that is in charge to run with this programme and be able to give us results especially that the legal wrangles are out,” he said.

Dr Parirenyatwa said they have opted for a Public Private Partnership to start the project.

“Adverts are going out now to be able to have partners some of whom we have already identified.