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Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
MAPHISA Hospital in Matobo District, Matabeleland South has gone for the past five days with no electricity following an electrical fault, putting patients’ lives at risk and creating an unpleasant working environment for the health workers.

The hospital is relying on a generator to power emergency and critical wards while nurses are relying on candles and torches to do their work.

Zanu-PF Matobo North legislator, Cde Edgar Moyo, yesterday made a passionate plea to Zesa, saying bodies were decomposing at the hospital mortuary while other parts of Matobo District have gone for years with no electricity.

Cde Moyo, who is also the Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education said the non availability of electricity has thwarted development in the area and puts the lives of people and domestic animals at risk as some electrify cables are all over the place.

“I’m disappointed by Zesa for not attending to our problem in Matobo District. Right now Maphisa Hospital has no electricity for the past five days. I visited the hospital and I was saddened by the situation there.

“Bodies are going bad at the mortuary because the generator being used is not powerful enough to provide adequate temperature. Nurses are struggling to do their work because they’re using candles and torches for lighting. This is not acceptable,” said Cde Moyo.

He said schools and service centres were also affected by the disruption of electricity supply.

“Lack of electricity has made it difficult for this area to develop. In Natisa, where I stay, we’ve gone for three years with no electricity because there’s no transformer and Zesa has been promising to install one for all these years.

“I’ve lost faith in Zesa because they always make fake promises. We’re saying Zimbabwe is open for business yet some people are sitting on their jobs and not interested in serving the nation,” said Cde Moyo.

He said electricity cables were lying on the ground in some parts of the district, endangering people and domestic animals.

“It’s sad that when I talk to Zesa officials, they even give me dates but they don’t come to attend to the faults in the area. Now we know that if there’s a fault it will never be attended to. Responsible authorities should do something about this problem,” said Cde Moyo.

Zesa southern region manager, Mr Lovemore Chinaka, attributed the disruption of power supply to vandalism, saying the power utility was struggling to cope with the damages caused.

“We can’t cope with the vandalism in different parts of the country. Almost every night we have reports of theft of copper cables and they are stolen in large quantities.

“The economy is also making it difficult for us to replace the copper cables on time. However, we’re working flat out and doing everything possible to attend to the faults,” said Mr Chinaka.

Cde Moyo also expressed concern about mining activities in the area which were damaging infrastructure and natural resources in the area.

“We understand that these miners are trying to earn a living but these people should be sensitive to infrastructure and the environment around them. The infrastructure is difficult to replace.

“EMA should intervene and raise awareness before these people destroy the environment. They should do their activities remembering that they also need the infrastructure and they should preserve it,” said Cde Moyo.