Ekusileni will keep Nkomo’s legacy alive

THE announcement by the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) on Friday that the Ekusileni Medical Centre in Bulawayo might finally re-open its doors in June this year is encouraging.

THE announcement by the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) on Friday that the Ekusileni Medical Centre in Bulawayo might finally re-open its doors in June this year is encouraging.

Ekusileni, a specialist hospital that was brainchild of late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo, has been lying idle since 2004 after it was shut down shortly after it was opened for the first time.

This followed a realisation that the equipment sourced by the Zimbabwe Health Care Trust (ZHCT) had become obsolete and posed a danger to patients.

A series of promises and excuses have been made since then that the hospital would reopen especially towards crucial elections.

The often broken promises had seen Bulawayo residents losing hope that the hospital would ever reopen its doors.

All this has been happening at a time when cases of Zimbabweans needing specialist medical treatment have been on the increase due to various factors.

Nkomo pushed for the construction of the medical centre after he was forced to travel as far as Egypt to seek treatment.

An increasing number of Zimbabweans are now trooping as far as India to access expensive specialist healthcare while others struggle to raise money to get treatment in South Africa.

The reopening of Ekusileni would ensure that people do not travel that far to seek specialist treatment in fulfillment of Nkomo’s dream.

NSSA general manager James Matiza announced after a tour by senior government officials that the 200-bed medical centre would finally reopen this year.

He said ZHCT led by Daud Dube had engaged Phodiso, a South African healthcare company, to manage the medical centre.

Matiza said Phodiso was also in the process of buying equipment for the hospital.

The onus is on the government and NSSA to ensure that the ZHCT and its partners keep their promises this time around.

Excuses would not be tolerated after June if the government wants to be taken seriously.

The reopening of Ekusileni will bring some modicum of respect to the government’s promises to keep Nkomo’s legacy alive.