Paul Nyathi

About 300 nurses from the two Bulawayo Central Hospitals, Mpilo Hospital and United Bulawayo Hospitals have been suspended from work after failing to comply to orders issued by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga who is also the Minister of Health and Child Care.

The nurses reportedly failed to report for duty following the re-introduction of 40 hour shifts by Chiwenga.

More than 3,000 cases of diarrhoea have been reported in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second city, in the last two months, as residents struggle with water shortages.

Low rainfall and an inability to keep up with the demands of a growing population in a depressed economic environment have left many of Bulawayo’s 1.5 million residents in the grip of water shortages and often having to obtain water from unprotected sources.

The country has been maintaining an average of 250 active Covid-19 cases, with the bulk, 123 of them in Bulawayo.

A total of 57 people succumbed to the global pandemic in the province and 18 of the deaths were recorded in the last two weeks.

In a recent order, Chiwenga ordered all nurses to revert back to the 40-hour working week system after scrapping their flexible working hours system which was introduced over a year ago to allow nurses to manage transport costs to get to work.

Mpilo Hospital got rid of about 200 nurses whilevthe United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) had suspended about 90 nurses.

The suspended nurses will be subjected to a disciplinary hearings where they will either be reinstated or dismissed depending on their individual cases.

The Zimbabwe Nurses Association, ZINA, declined Chiwenga’s instruction insisting that their members will continue with the flexi working system until the government reviews their salaries.