A NURSE at Silobela District Hospital in the Midlands
Province assaulted a female patient who had just undergone a surgical procedure
to evacuate incomplete miscarriage, accusing her of having been impregnated by
her “husband.”
This emerged when Ms Ludia Nyamangondo (33) approached the
Bulawayo High Court challenging the instituting of disciplinary proceedings
against her for alleged misconduct by the Health Service Board (HSB).
In papers before the court, she cited Midlands’ provincial
medical officer, the chairman of the disciplinary committee and the HSB as
respondents. Ms Nyamangondo confronted Ms Privilege Mutambara, a patient
who was admitted to the ward. She accused her of having unprotected sex with
her “husband” resulting in her falling pregnant.
Ms Mutambara was admitted to the hospital following an
evacuation of retained products of conceptions.
Ms Nyamangondo was charged by her employer for misconduct
in terms of section 44 (2) of the Health Service Regulations.
According to papers before the court, Ms Nyamangondo
assaulted Ms Mutambara following an altercation over a boyfriend on August 5,
2017 at around 6.30PM.
The matter was reported to the police two days later and Ms
Nyamangondo paid an admission of guilt fine of $20.
In her statement, Ms Nyamangondo said she slapped Ms
Mutambara once on the face.
She said she was angered by the fact that the woman had
unprotected sex with her “husband” oblivious of the dangers of contracting HIV.
“When I was informed by a colleague that my husband’s
girlfriend was admitted to the hospital ward, I went to see her so that we
could talk over the issue. However, when I got there we had a misunderstanding
and I got emotional and failed to control my anger. I then slapped her once
because I was pained by the fact that she had unprotected sex with my husband
resulting in her falling pregnant,” she said.
“As a married couple, I have a duty to fulfil as a wife and
because of my husband’s actions, there was also a risk of contracting HIV. To
make matters worse, my husband is not even taking care of our child,” she said.
Ms Nyamangondo, through her lawyers Pundu and Company, is
seeking an order barring the respondents from convening a disciplinary hearing,
arguing that it is a violation of section 44 (2) (a) of the Health Service
Regulations, which stipulates that she was supposed to be charged within seven
days after completion of investigations.
“The purported charge was preferred against me after 28
days following the completion of investigations, which is a gross violation of
section 44 (2) (a) of the Health Service Regulations and my constitutional right
to prompt, efficient and substantively fair hearing within a reasonable time,”
she argued.
“Respondents grossly violated my constitutional right to be
tried within a reasonable time by trying to arraign me before a disciplinary
hearing committee for an alleged misconduct committed in 2017.”
Ms Nyamangondo said she was issued with a notice to attend
hearing on March 4, 2019, which was however, postponed indefinitely after her
lawyers raised several legal issues.
She wants the court to declare the disciplinary proceedings
illegal, null and void. According to papers before the court, Ms Mutambara said
they had an argument which resulted in Ms Nyamangondo grabbing her by the
collar.
“She (Ms Nyamangondo) came to the ward where I was admitted
and demanded to know what relationship I had with her husband. I told her that
I was in love with the man she purported to be her husband and that we were
staying together. I also told her that the only thing I knew was that my husband
was a divorcee who had two children with his previous wife and that is when we
started arguing,” said Ms Mutambara. Chronicle
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