POWER outages have been rampant lately, with the national power utility failing to meet demand.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa could have been furious with the poor performance of the past Energy and Power Development minister Edgar Moyo such that he swapped him with July Moyo, who took up the portfolio coming from the Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare ministry.
Electricity has become a scarce commodity in the country and for areas such as Ruwa, power is switched off for even longer periods and it's worse when it rains.
I was wondering why Ruwa can go for days without electricity after heavy rains that are accompanied by thunder and lightning.
Is it because of dilapidated power infrastructure?
Is it understaffing that is contributing to poor service at the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company?
I came to realise that brain drain is affecting many organisations in the country.
While it is reported that more than 6 000 health workers have left the country for greener pastures in the last two years, many other professionals like accountants, lawyers, engineers and technicians have followed suit.
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Many of the deserters complain of unbearable working conditions, while they are paid meagre salaries that are not enough for simple sustainability.
Schools are opening next Tuesday and it is a pity that many parents, particularly civil servants, are in quandary as to how they will send their children to school.
The country is in economic doldrums and government should do something urgently to address the plight of workers.
Imagine a whole university lecturer getting a salary of around US$250 and an exiguous amount in local currency pegged at the bank rate.
It does not need a rocket scientist to appreciate the importance of electricity in medical institutions.
There are so many places that require uninterrupted supply of electricity such as clinics and hospitals.
Intensive care units are important health centres that should have machines continuously running.
Surgical theatres too as people undergo live-saving operations there.
Imagine a power outage occurring in the midst of a surgical operation when there is no reliable power back-up.
It is really catastrophic and that is the reason why all health units should have reliable back-up power.
There are drugs that should maintain the cold chain, especially vaccines, which help to restore health and vitality to people.
Imagine wanting to get vaccinated and only being told that the vaccine has lost potency because the cold chain was not maintained as a result of long periods of power outages.
Government and other stakeholders in electricity generation, transmission and distribution should understand that unplanned power outages increase both morbidity and mortality among patients.
How many theatre cases are cancelled because there is no electricity in the hospital or clinic?
How many patients fail to be treated daily because their cards could not be processed when the digital system of data capturing is down as a result of power outages?
How many bodies have decomposed because the mortuaries cannot maintain cold temperatures?
How many drugs lose potency because they are not stored in a temperature-maintained cold chain?
The psychological effects on the health workforce is too significant to ignore.
Electricity shortage is hampering national development in the country.
We cannot talk of robust industrial development if we have poor energy supply like what is happening today.
Vision 2030 will be a mountain to climb without adequate power.
Our country is now known for wrong reasons with corruption being topical, gobbling at least US$2 billion yearly, an amount which is enough to build 100 big hospitals in the country.
It is high time the country invested in alternative power systems like solar or wind if the impact of electricity shortage is to be mitigated.
We are blessed to have sun that shines almost on a daily basis thus it is easy to harvest solar energy.
It is high time the political leadership showed seriousness when appointing office bearers like ministers and not recycle the same old guard that has failed dismally in the past.
Zimbabwe has potential for monumental growth, alas, corruption is strangling development.
- Johannes Marisa is a medical practitioner who is the current president of the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners Association of Zimbabwe.
