Zanu (PF) hijacks anti-malaria health project in Bikita
By Tichaona Sibanda
29 November 2006

A health project funded by a United Nations aid agency in Bikita, Masvingo province has ground to a halt after villagers refused to accept mosquito nets following claims Zanu (PF) had facilitated the project.

Thousands of mosquito nets sent to the malaria prone region are still being stored at Negovane clinic after the ministry of Health sourced the materials from the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund.

When the consignment arrived at the clinic Zanu (PF) MP for Bikita West Claudius Makova allegedly demanded that Zanu (PF) councillors distribute the materials. According to Wilstass Sitemere, provincial chairman of the MDC in Masvingo, the villagers rejected this and refused to accept the mosquito nets.

A local MDC councillor was on Monday arrested by the police for allegedly inciting villagers to boycott the distribution exercise. He was kept in the cells for over four hours but was released without charge.

‘All the villagers are saying is don’t lie to us. They know the consignment came from UNICEF through the ministry of health. As for our councillor he was let free because he had no case to answer,’ said Sitemere.

The area earmarked for distribution falls under the MDC after the party won a number of rural council seats in the constituency. It is believed the villagers did not like the idea of Zanu (PF) running the programme when a few weeks early they had voted out a Zanu (PF) councillor. Villagers in the area have vowed they will only pick up the mosquito nets in the presence of MDC councillors.

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