By Talent Gondo| President Emmerson Mnangagwa who was surprisingly silent about the striking nurses in his Independence Day message has finally opened up on why government fired nurses to an audience in Chipinge claiming that the strike was politically motivated.

Mnangagwa told villagers at a field day in Chipinge that he was well briefed about the developments in the health sector and he had come to the conclusion that there was political interference pushing the nurses to strike.

“I was well briefed about their refusal to wait for just two days until we could pay them despite that they had waited for over 8 years following their 2010 agreement,” said Mnangagwa.

“We realised that there is a force behind this. How can one refuse to wait for 2 days until we finalise payment modalities when they have waited for 8 years, so we said fire them. Anyone who needs a job, go and apply,” said Mnangagwa.

Mnangagwa justified government’s move to relieve the nurses of their duties adding that this was because  government prioritises it’s citizens’ health.

“We told them to go back to work but they refused.They indicated that they will only go to work if the US $17 million that had been allocated to them by treasury reflected in their individual accounts,” said Mnangagwa.

“We said two days is a long time and the nation cannot afford that. What if we lost a lot of lives during those two days? We value nurses but we also value citizens’ s health and life.”

Mnangagwa called on unemployed nurses to apply  for nursing positions adding that those fired could reapply