Thieves have stolen a submersible water pump and control panel worth K10,000 at the newly constructed Chimutiku Clinic in Luangeni Constituency due to lack of proper security at the government facility.

The Clinic was constructed under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to provide services to a population of 4,500 people in the area.

This came to light when Eastern Province Deputy Permanent Secretary, Lewis Mwape, toured the facility in his ongoing familiarisation of government funded projects.

Speaking in an interview with ZANIS shortly after touring the clinic, Dr Mwape said the Government was targeting to improve the welfare of people in rural areas through CDF projects that must be effectively supported by everyone and not be frustrated through thefts and vandalism.

“This theft at Chimutiku clinic is really sad because the Government is spending a lot of money targeted at improving the welfare of people. This clinic is here to offer a service to people in this community but just one individual comes here, steals the water pump at the clinic so that the people are denied a service, this is really bad.

“This clinic was constructed to provide access to medical services to the people in the area in order for them not to be walking long distances to get the service when they are ill,” he said.

Dr Mwape has urged the community members to be vigilant in order to provide security at the clinic so that no further thefts may be recorded.

“This is your property and you as the people from this community must provide the security needed. I want to also direct the Zambia Police Service to provide periodic patrols in the area so that this property is protected from thefts or vandalism,” he said.

And Induna Chimutiku said the traditional leadership in the area has instituted its own investigations to establish who stole the equipment at the clinic.

He said the community members had been engaged to provide information that might be helpful in order to apprehend the culprits but to no avail.

The traditional leader said since the construction of the clinic in 2019 up to 2024, no theft has ever occurred at the clinic until recently.

“Since 2019, we have never experienced any theft. This clinic is the only development that we have recorded in our area. We will not rest until we bring the culprits that stole the pump to face the harsh arm of the law whether the thieves are from within our community or came from Chipata,” he said.

Induna Chimutiku has commended the Government for the construction of the clinic using CDF adding that people no longer walk long distances to access medical services.