The Manager at the institution, Margaret Chigwanda, told The Zimbabwean that Mutemwa was struggling to provide basic food supplies to its inhabitants and had an outstanding $28 000 water and electricity debt.
Mutemwa currently houses 43 patients, but has the capacity to look after 65.
“We are failing to provide our patients with food. We have run out of mealie meal and we don’t know what to do. We have an outstanding $18 000 electricity debt and $10 000 water bill as well. We have been pleading with ZESA and town council to give us more time to source the funds but the bills are accruing every month,” Chigwanda said.
She said Mutemwa had a monthly expenditure of $5 200 and was currently receiving $3 000 from John Bradburne Memorial Society in the United Kingdom.
JBMS is an international organisation founded in 1995 to assist Mutemwa in memory of John Bradburne who worked at the centre for 10 years before his death in 1979.
“If it was not for JBMS, this institution would have closed. We used to get assistance from individual donors but not anymore,” she said.
The lack of rain has negatively affected their access to maize, forcing them to source the foodstuff at a high cost.
“For the last two years we have had to buy maize. In the past we grew it ourselves but no rain and a lack of fertiliser now makes this impossible. Every month we consume half a tonne of maize,” Chigwanda explained.
With relevant capital, Chigwanda said they could run self-sufficient projects to ensure the organisation remained functional. “We need irrigation equipment to run our own projects like farming and poultry rearing. At the moment we have a shortage of blankets, linen, bandages and medical equipment,” said Chigwanda.
Post published in: News