Nurses affiliated to the Zimbabwe Nurses Association (Zina)
have since 2018 engaged in sporadic job actions to demand better salaries and
working conditions. Zanu PF acting spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa said nurses
appeared to have a broader opposition agenda to destabilise government.
He said the politburo on Wednesday saluted a handful of
nurses at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital (formerly Harare Central) and those
from Bulawayo, who apologised to government for defying orders to discontinue
flexi hours and return to a 40-hour working week.
“We also took note as politburo of the positive gesture by
nurses at Sally Mugabe Hospital who bravely broke ranks with the
opposition-aligned Zina and returned to work,” Chinamasa said.
“That is the kind of patriotism we want to see from civil
servants.”
Last week, Sally Mugabe Hospital nurses reportedly
apologised to the then acting Health minister Amon Murwira at a meeting held at
the institution.
The rest of the nurses across the country, however,
rejected the government order, refusing to report for work and sued
Vice-President and Health minister Constantino Chiwenga, who suffered an
embarrassing defeat at the courts.
Government responded by removing the nurses from the
payroll. Chiwenga has been using military tactics on nurses and doctors to strike
fear and instil discipline among the health workers.
In July, government deployed soldiers and the police to
stop nurses from protesting. Government also removed many of the nurses from
the payroll and in September, introduced stringent measures to stop health
workers to get clearance certificates to seek greener pastures. It is also
trying to force trainee doctors to work under the military.
Chinamasa’s remarks irked the nurses who in turn blasted
Zanu PF for using terror tactics to silence them from pushing for a living
wage.
Zina president Enoch Dongo said it was shameful for Zanu PF to use threats and lies to silence nurses. He claimed that those nurses who apologised were arm-twisted in a desperate bid to destabilise the association.
“That is cheap politics. We are there for the welfare of
nurses and that has nothing to do with politics. Ours is a labour issue and not
politics,” he said.
Dongo accused individuals of wanting to politicise their
labour dispute with the government for selfish ends.
“Clearly, the statement by Chinamasa is misleading. Why has
it ended up to that level? The issue with government spilled into the courts
and we have two judgments in our favour. Does that mean the High Court is also
working with the opposition?” he queried.
Dongo said nurses maintained that they were incapacitated
to go to work and also would not want to congest workplaces because of
COVID-19.
Zina last month took government to court twice and on both
occasions, the High Court ruled that nurses were right and were entitled to
continue with the flexible working-hour system.
Dongo said the government was the one which was supposed to
apologise to the nurses for acting in a manner which the court said was
“incorrect”. Newsday
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