Doctors Respond To ED's Claims That They Were Being Sponsored To Strike

Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association has dismissed as unfortunate claims made by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Thursday which suggested that doctors were being paid by foreign donors to stay away from work.

ZHDA, a union for junior and medium level doctors said its members do not need a third party to sensitise them about their issues. Said the association:

The statements are unfortunate. It is clear that government is turning a purely labour issue into a political issue… We do not need anyone to tell us that the money we are earning is not sufficient to pay for rentals and buy food. Nobody has to come and tell me that I am struggling to pay fees for my children because my salary is insufficient, doctors are not fools.

Doctors have been on industrial action since the 3rd of September this year over “unsustainable salaries and poor working conditions”.

Both the government and the employees have indicated the importance of dialogue but workers demand a fairground for such deliberations saying intimidation of workers strained relations between the government and workers.

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