Zimbabwe Accused Of Blocking Nurses From Leaving For "Greener Pastures"
The Zimbabwean Government has been accused of frustrating nurses who want to migrate by failing to provide a crucial document confirming their professional status without which they cannot be employed in foreign lands.
The Ministry of Health and Childcare took over the issuing of “verification letters” from the Nurses Council of Zimbabwe in early 2022.
Unions in Zimbabwe say the Nurses Council of Zimbabwe used to issue the verification letters within days, but the process is now taking “forever” under the Health Ministry.
Simbarashe Tafirenyika, president of the Zimbabwe Urban and Rural Council Nurses Workers Union, told TimesLive that some ministry officials were demanding hefty bribes to expedite documents.
The Government also doubled the document application fee to US$300, which is too steep for the poorly-paid nurses.
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Jane, a 35-year-old Zimbabwean nurse who landed a job in the United Kingdom a year ago, is among thousands of nurses who are being frustrated from leaving the country, said:
The government is holding me to ransom now. I’m really worried I might not be able to leave.
The single mother-of-three, who only used her first name for fear of reprisals, told TimesLive that she can no longer afford to eat lunch as runaway inflation has eroded her finances.
Zimbabwean nurses earn less than US$100 a month which is paid in the local currency.
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga is on record saying Zimbabwe intends to criminalise the foreign recruitment of health staff.
He argued that the country was spending a lot of resources training health workers only for them to be recruited by richer countries.
More: Pindula News
