*HON. ZEMURA: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this report. I would like to thank the Almighty for giving us these trees which we use as medicines. I would like to start with zumbani, especially this time of COVID- 19. I noticed it on one funeral in my rural area. Everyone harvested zumbani to use when they return to their respective homes. If it was not for zumbani, we could have died of COVID-19. We look down upon these traditional medicines but they work wonders on certain ailments.
I had a nephew who used to treat people who would have been beaten by snakes even if the person is far away. You could just call him and he will ask you where the person was bitten and he would treat the person by rubbing that medicine in his body part similar to where that person was bitten and the person will be healed. This is the extent of how traditional medicines can work. What we should do is to promote and trust them. Since this issue has been raised here in Parliament by Hon. Masango and seconded by Hon. Toffa, if we continue talking about these traditional medicines, the Government will do something.
Also those who use traditional medicines should come out openly so that others can also see how they work. These traditional medicines should be packaged and there should be books about those medicines and how they work. Our Grandfathers and mothers used to trust these medicines but we are now discarding them. I thank you.
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