NUST directed to complete JM Nkomo Ekusileni Hospital

THE National University of Science and Technology (NUST) has been urged to expedite the completion of the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Ekusileni Medical Centre so that it can serve the institution and surrounding communities.

Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Amon Murwira urged a virtual NUST council and management brainstorming session on Tuesday to complete other projects including the library and the technovation centre.

The medical centre, which officially opened in 2021 after 17 years of false starts, is the brainchild of the late former Vice President Dr Joshua Nkomo, who envisioned ordinary people accessing specialist medical care.

Although when it opened it was catering for Covid-19 patients only, plans are to transform it into a specialist medical training and research school under NUST.

Prof Murwira said it was disturbing that staff members who fell sick went to seek treatment at other hospitals when it was training medical doctors.

“Everything that we see, every tall building was started with an idea, but started by laying one brick until all the bricks were laid,” he said.

It was important to note that when programmes were implemented, most times it was not the people who started them who finished them.

“We are a product of our ancestors, which means we are a product of a patient past. We must have a patient present in order to produce a patient and robust future,” he said.

Prof Murwira assured NUST that the government fully supported its plans to establish a faculty of agricultural science and technology which will be operating from Solusi University.

He urged the university to move away from the dependency syndrome, but be independent and determined to achieve what it wants.

Prof Murwira also challenged NUST to come up with its own insurance and pension scheme for its staff members.

“We cannot have a university which is at the mercy of medical aid societies where our people fail to receive adequate medical attention because we are expecting to have our things being managed by people who we can’t control,” he said. —New Ziana.