By Nokuthaba Dlamini
Families in Zimbabwe’s remote Binga district are being forced to use fertiliser, wet sand and banana leaves to preserve the bodies of their deceased relatives as the local hospital mortuary remains largely non-functional, residents and officials say.
The situation has now been raised in Parliament, where Binga North MP Fanuel Cumanzala has filed a formal question demanding that the Minister of Health and Child Care outline “concrete plans” to permanently address long-standing problems at Binga District Hospital, including a mortuary that has “not been fully operational for a long time”.
As of 7 April 2026, the minister had not yet responded to the inquiry, which has been repeatedly deferred since early March.
On the ground, residents say the delays in Harare contrast sharply with the realities faced by grieving families in the Zambezi Valley.
Margaret Bernard, a village health worker in Tinde, said the lack of a functioning mortuary has left families with little choice but to improvise.
“We are lamenting about the mortuary because it has not been easy over the years,” she said.
“When a death occurs at the hospital, they immediately carry the body to the homestead and use sand soils to preserve the body or fertiliser, especially when it is hot, as relatives prepare for burial.”
She said the problem has persisted for years, largely due to electricity interruptions and broken-down refrigeration equipment that has not been repaired since before 2022.
Bernard added that while some families have funeral policies, many cannot afford to transport bodies to alternative facilities in Hwange or Victoria Falls.
Other residents described increasingly desperate measures to cope with the heat and lack of refrigeration.
Simani Munkuli, from Manjolo, said families are often forced into immediate burials.
“We had no time to mourn or wait for relatives travelling from Bulawayo. Because the hospital fridges were down, we were told to take the body immediately. We had to bury him the same evening to avoid the stench of decomposition,” he said.
Elias Minde said his family resorted to traditional preservation methods using river sand and banana leaves.
“We spent three days wetting river sand and packing it around my uncle’s body, covered with banana leaves to keep the temperature down,” he said. “It is heartbreaking, but we cannot afford to travel to Hwange.”
In some cases, residents say they have turned to agricultural inputs to slow decomposition.
Loveness Nyoni, from Chief Dobola’s area, said fertiliser is being used in extreme cases.
“We have started using farming fertiliser to help preserve corpses when it is very hot,” she said. “We are in a crisis.”
The parliamentary records show that Cumanzala has also raised concerns about broader challenges at Binga District Hospital, including unanswered questions on its rehabilitation and its suitability for a previously announced nursing school.
He is also seeking updates on measures to combat malaria and waterborne diseases in the flood-prone Zambezi Valley region.
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