BULAWAYO Provincial Affairs Minister Cde Judith Ncube yesterday castigated peddlers of fake news
after scores of people gathered at Mpilo Central Hospital, responding to social
media messages that there would be nurses’ recruitment at the institution.
In an interview, Cde Ncube said the issue of fake news had
detrimental effects and was negatively affecting the country.
The Minister, who recently spoke against unfair nurses’
recruitment which saw most applicants from the southern region being sidelined,
urged people to remain calm as she waited for a response from the health
ministry to whom she wrote a letter seeking clarification on the matter.
“I have done my part. I have engaged the top leadership and
the health ministry on the matter. I am waiting for the outcome of the
engagements. I therefore urge people to remain calm. While we have grievances
that hold water, it would not serve us to now start rioting and behaving in a
way that is not led by the spirit of Ubuntu. This matter must be addressed
through proper engagement channels that we can be assisted and get favourable
outcomes.
“Another issue which is becoming a headache is the issue of
fake news. Those peddlers of untruthful reports do not realise the gravity of
their actions. Imagine someone will come all the way from very faraway places,
using hard to come by resources, just because someone decided to be
mischievous. Our people are desperate, people have got limited resources and some
even borrowed bus fares to come to Bulawayo only to find out that there is
nothing. We must never mislead people, let us tell the truth,” she said.
Cde Ncube said the nurse recruitment procedure was unfair
as it left out prospective applicants in mostly rural areas with limited access
to technology and the internet.
“I must say that there should be a way to bridge this
digital gap. However, for now we must
ensure that the playing field is level so that all prospective applicants get
equal opportunities to apply and be considered. Remember, we have equally
deserving prospectives in rural areas who may fail to apply due to the
conditions of their existence. It is unfair and it must be addressed,” said Cde
Ncube.
Some disgruntled
Bulawayo citizens yesterday held a peaceful demonstration at Mpilo Central
Hospital in response to unfair recruitment of nurses in Bulawayo and
Matabeleland region at large.
This followed fake social messages purporting that the
hospital will be recruiting nurses from Matabeleland so that there will be
equal representation.
Addressing protesters, one of the organisers, Mr Zolani
Dube said the statistics of nurse recruitment in the region is biased to people
from other regions.
“We are here because of the nurse recruitment process in
Matabeleland. If there are any vacancies in Bulawayo people are recruited from
Harare, our people from Matabeleland are still unemployed. The most painful
issue is, in Matabeleland we speak about national issues but in Mashonaland we
speak about provincial issues. Does that mean devolution is not applicable in
Matabeleland only?” said Mr Dube.
Mpilo Central Hospital Clinical Director Dr Solwayo Ngwenya
said the recruitment issue was beyond the control of the hospital as they only
acted on instruction.
“It’s beyond our control, it is from the head office. We
were not consulted, we were given the list, we did not take part. We used to
advertise, accept letters, interview, appoint then we will send names of the successful
applicants to Harare. This time they did everything from Harare and sent names
to us. We don’t know how they did it, “said Dr Ngwenya.
One of the protesters Simphiwe Sibanda said the message was
circulating online that Mpilo will be recruiting nurses yesterday.
“I didn’t know there will be a demonstration but this is a
good move because what happened is not fair, we were not given equal
opportunities with those from Harare. What we all want here is the reversal of
this intake or they start recruiting again,” said Sibanda.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care has since disowned
the social media message saying the nursing intake had been frozen.
“The Ministry of Health and Child Care has noted with
concern the story circulating on social media about e-nursing recruitment. The
ministry would like to inform the public that the story is not true and that
members of the public should rely on official sources of information,” said the
ministry’s public relations manager Mr Donald Mujiri. Chronicle
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