By Flata Kavinga
Kwekwe Mayor Cllr Albert Zinhanga says local authorities must go beyond service delivery and invest in community health initiatives, as the City of Kwekwe donated sanitary pads to learners at Mbizo High School on Friday
The donation, part of a mayoral social responsibility programme, also benefited girls at Amaveni High School, Globe and Phoenix High School and Manunure High School, with officials saying the initiative aims to promote menstrual health and keep girls in class.
Speaking during the handover ceremony at Mbizo High, Zinhanga said councils should complement their traditional roles with programmes that respond to social challenges affecting residents.
“Our responsibility is not only to deal with water and roads. We also have a social responsibility to move into schools and communities so we can understand and address the challenges people face,” he said.
Zinhanga said the programme, launched ahead of Valentine’s Day, deliberately shifted focus to the welfare of the girl child, noting that economic hardships have made sanitary products unaffordable for some families.
He said the city’s health department participated in the outreach to provide health education alongside the distribution of pads.
The mayor added that future programmes could expand to include awareness campaigns on diseases such as breast and prostate cancer, as well as initiatives targeting the boy child and elderly residents.
Junior Member of Parliament for Mbizo Constituency, Blesswell Chakonza, welcomed the donation, saying lack of sanitary wear remains a barrier to school attendance for some girls.
“In many schools, girls sometimes miss lessons because they do not have sanitary wear. It is encouraging to see leaders recognising the problem and taking steps to address it,” Chakonza said.
He urged stakeholders to consider sustained support, noting that menstrual health needs are recurring.
