The Sunday News
Charity Chikara, Sunday News Reporter
THE Parliament of Zimbabwe today (Tuesday) handed over an assortment of goods to Entembeni Old People’s Home, situated in Bulawayo’s Luveve suburb.
The goods were bought from proceeds of the Fourth Annual Charity Golf tournament, which grossed ZW$1 174 102 and US$1 932.
The donated goods to the home included Lights Only 3KV Solar System and installation, 2 x 10 kilogramme heavy duty Defy washing machines, 2 X 50 inch LG smart television sets, 50X single bed sheets with pillowcases, 1 Desktop Computer and Medium Duty Printer and 350 kilogrammes of sugar.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, the Deputy President of the Senate Lt-Gen (Rtd) Michael Nyambuya said as parliament they were concerned with the well-being of the elderly in society.
He said the Annual Golf tournament enables Parliament to play its role of giving back to the community.
“The Golf tournament is a yearly event enabling us to give back to society, as an incandescent light that ought to shine the light for others. As Parliament we believe that we are mandated to take care of the elderly as they have done their duty. In isiNdebele there is proverb ‘Ukuzala yikuzimbela’, equally matched by a Shona saying ‘chirere mangwana chigokurerawo’.
“In all of these sayings which are underpinned by ubuntu/hunhu, the elderly are an integral part of our lives and we are obliged to take care of them in their twilight years,” he said.
He referred to Section 82 of the constitution which spells out that the elderly are a demographic group that is singled out for particular attention, therefore Parliament has to ensure that the elderly are well taken care of.
Bulawayo Metropolitan Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Cde Judith Ncube said the donations came on time for Christmas and the elderly would therefore celebrate in style.
“Our greatest gratitude goes to the Zimbabwean Parliament for taking it upon themselves to raise funds and assist our elderly in these trying times. “The Solar System came at a time where the Home’s greatest problem is power outages, the washing machines will ease the staff’s jobs and give them more time with the elderly, televisions will keep the elderly entertained, just to mention a few,” she said.
