High Court orders City of Harare to open all clinics, attend to pregnant mothers
By Nyashadzashe Ndoro
High Court Judge Justice Edith Mushore has ordered the City of Harare to ensure that all pregnant women receive emergency medical service and that all council clinics are opened by 14 October 2020.
This comes after some residents through the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) lawyer Tonderai Bhatasara approached the High Court seeking an order to compel the City of Harare and local government to open all 42 clinics.
These clinics were closed due to lack of Covid-19 related resources, including failure to provide health care workers with personal protective equipment (PPE).
“Help us thank Tonderai Bhatasara of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), who today obtained a court order granted by High Court Judge Justice Edith Mushore compelling City of Harare to immediately ensure that all pregnant women receive emergency medical service and that all council clinics are opened are operational by 14 October 2020.
“The court’s decision came after ZLHR acted on behalf of some Harare residents, who sought an order to compel City of Harare and central government to open all its 42 clinics, which had been closed to the public by the local authority,” ZLHR spokesperson Kumbirai Mafunda said.
Most council clinics health care workers were refusing to go to work, demanding sufficient PPEs and their condition in terms of salaries and working hours to be addressed.
The absence of health workers subjected thousands of expecting women, mothers and their babies at great risk as they were failing to access delivery, antenatal and postnatal services.
