Jubilee is a national monument, say citizens

KEABETSWE NEWEL
Correspondent | Friday August 27, 2010 00:00

Situated in the Government Camp, next to police quarters and the museum among some old colonial buildings, only the name Jubilee remains one of the structures that nowadays is a psychiatric unit. Back in the days, Jubilee Hospital used to be the reference point for the Francistown residents and people in northern Botswana.  It could be safe to hazard a guess that all the elders of the north know the hospital because it is where they brought their offspring to life by way of delivering babies who are now also adults, also having their bodily ailments taken care of. The hospital was turned into a psychiatric ward and it now goes by the name of Jubilee psychiatry. In an interview with a psychiatrist at the Jubilee Psychiatry who chose not to be mentioned by name, he said the hospital has since been phased out and replaced by the psychiatric unit.

'Jubilee used to be the first and only hospital in this City. In 1989 when Nyangabgwe Hospital was opened some of the functions of Jubilee Hospital were moved to Nyangabgwe. 

'The structures were even left vacant until they were turned into wards under the Nyangabgwe Hospital,' recalled the doctor. Actually, Jubilee was made part of Nyangabgwe such that even the psychiatry unit was controlled and managed from Nyangabgwe. 'After Nyangabgwe took over the running of Jubilee Hospital, the whole complex, though at the time some of the buildings were vacant, was turned into a psychiatric ward, Anti Retro Viral (ARV) reference laboratory and the Tuberculosis (TB) ward, which are all branches of Nyangabgwe,' said the doctor. This psychiatrist said he was employed by the Ministry of Health and posted to Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital who in turn posted him to the Jubilee Psychiatry Unit where he currently works.  He said that Jubilee Psychiatry unit is a ward of Nyangabgwe because there was not enough space for all the wards at the referral hospital.

He said the only reason the place is called Jubilee Psychiatry is because it is located in the premises of the now extinct Jubilee Hospital.  'Some of the buildings have been empty for a long time such that they were later on converted into a National Reference Lab for HIV,' said the doctor pointing at the building.  The public relations officer at the Nyangabgwe Hospital, Caiphus Gabana, revealed that he was born at the Jubilee Hospital when it ruled the roost as the only superior medical facility in the north.  As if speaking of a human being, Gabana remarked: 'The Jubilee facility does not exist anymore. It is dead. What we have are only memories,' commented the PRO.

When Mmegi asked Gabana if there was a need to establish a district hospital in the north, especially in Francistown, he responded in the affirmative saying there was an absolute need for it.   'Maybe if this issue could be taken to the right authorities there could be plans to restore Jubilee to be the district hospital, or simply building a new one if developing the old Jubilee is impossible,' he mused.

Gabana added that for purposes of history there is need to preserve the Jubilee Hospital at least for the new generation to know of the places that were of great importance to the nation, especially the residents of northern Botswana.

Some prominent members of the community in Francistown as well as the nation at large also commented on this issue.  Former mayor of Francistown, Motlatsi Molapise, who was the longest serving councillor in Francistown until he lost the Boikhutso Ward in the Francistown South constituency in last year's general election, revealed that he too was born at Jubilee.

Said the elderly Molapise, a member of the Botswana People's Party (BPP): 'Jubilee is a mother hospital to all the hospitals and clinics in the northern side of this country. They were all born from Jubilee, and even all the elders in this city were born and went for medical treatment at the Jubilee Hospital'.  

Molapise regretted that government did not heed the advice of members of the public who had wanted a district hospital to be built where Jubilee Hospital was located. This was after the advent of Nyangabgwe Hospital. 'The way it is now, the buildings are a mess and need to be reconstructed'.

Molapise went on to say that even the Nyangabgwe Hospital has a shortage of manpower and there is not enough space to accommodate all people in the North. He pointed out that 75 percent of the people that are admitted to the hospital are from rural areas around Francistown.

'Jubilee was the only hospital that uplifted the lives of people in the north and if it wasn't because of it, where could we have been?' Molapise asked rhetorically.  He said due to its historical importance, the hospital should be preserved for future generations. He even cited other examples like the Maun and the Sekgoma Memorial Hospitals, which are currently neglected.

Another prominent citizen of Francistown who was born at Jubilee Hospital is Iqbal Ibrahim. Also previously former mayor of the city under the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Ibrahim conceded that Jubilee was taken over by Nyangabgwe Hospital because it was too small to serve all the residents of the north, because of the growing population.But he quickly added that Nyangabgwe was presently experiencing the same problems.

He said as the hospital covers the entire north, it is unable to cope due to the fact that the population has more than quadrupled since its inception.  He felt that for historical purposes the Jubilee Hospital should be preserved for future generations.