Donated WHO motorbikes lie idle for four years

By Sharon Buwerimwe | Dec. 24, 2022 | 2 Min read

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About 100 motorbikes that were donated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to hospitals have been lying idle for the past four years due to lack of funds to train health workers on how to operate them.

This was revealed last Friday in the National Assembly by Kambuzuma legislator Willias Madzimure (CCC) while contributing to Health budget debate on the Finance Bill in relation to the 2023 national budget. He said government was failing to allocate funds and other resources to health workers, adding that it was also failing to facilitate their training to be able to operate Class 3 vehicles.

“I have got two issues. The first one has to do with motorcycles that were supplied by WHO. It is now four years after these motor cycles were donated and to date, they are not working. So, we have got 100 motorcycles that are lying idle that were donated some four years ago. The reason is simple.

“They are saying they do not have money to train health workers who are supposed to use those motorcycles. If you divide the 100 motorcycles by 10, it means each province will have 10 motorcycles for the health workers. This will make a big difference,” Madzimure said.

“In other countries, for those people who are diabetic, HIV positive, and those with high blood pressure, they are supplied medicines using motorcycles. We have got 100 motor cycles lying idle because the staff that are supposed to use them cannot be trained.”

In response, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said: “The way we see it, we feel that the sector in terms of resources that have been allocated has adequate resources, but the issue is draw-down, and competition between donors and government funding. We also need to find a way for the public and private sectors to work together so that they can improve on access to our public citizens.”

Ncube did not explain what government will do to ensure the motorcycles are used in the health delivery system.