26 Aug 2019

North East District Council employees took time off from their daily work on August 23 to engage on a wellness and fitness day at Masunga stadium.

The day started with a march from the village centre to the stadium where participants did aerobics, athletics and tug of war amongst others.

Addressing attendees, district commissioner for North East District Council, Mr Loeto Porati said wellness activities were meant to bring public servants together to interact outside of work.

He said public servants played a meaningful role in communities hence they had to stay fit and healthy to serve customers. 

“There is a need for a productive and healthy workforce to drive government’s mandate.”

He advised employees to make exercising a habit because it would help them stay healthy. He stated that for North East to excel in all departments, employees needed to be physically and mentally fit because the two went hand in hand.

Mr Porati said there was low male HIV testing according to the District Health Management Team report. 

He said in the modern day no one should spread STIs because there was sufficient education on the subject.

The district commissioner said it was saddening that some gender based violence cases were committed by public employees. 

He further encouraged officers to be stress free and share their problems because emotional health was important for every individual.

Presenting the objectives of the wellness day, the district AIDS coordinator, Mr Chris Moseki reiterated that wellness activities brought employees together towards one common goal of keeping fit.

He said it was good for a district to hold one wellness day where all departments were represented rather than each entity holding their own.

He stated that health and wellness should be taken seriously and encouraged attendees to continue exercising even during their own time. 

Mr Moseki said employees served one government hence should be responsible custodians and serve with dignity. Ends