The strike by doctors which is nearing its 70th day started a few weeks after Police banned MDC planned nationwide protests after investigation revealed the protests would turn violent.
It is at this juncture that the foreign mission in collaboration with MDC recruited some members of the Zimbabwe Health Doctors Association (ZHDA) with a view to halt business in the health sector hoping it would trigger mass protests similar to that of the Arab Springs.
It is at this point that Dr Peter Magombeyi former ZINASU SRC President at NUST came into the picture. Magombeyi led a coup in ZHDA which was due to go for congress and took over as the interim president with clear instructions to use the health sector to trigger widespread discontent among the citizenry and ultimately an uprising against President Mnangagwa’s administration.
It may be recalled that, in September, business in most health institutions came to a halt amid claims of an abduction of Dr Magombeyi.
Before the Police could make investigations on the whereabouts of Dr. Magombeyi, opposition elements were already alleging that the State had unleashed security agencies on the former.
Using his Twitter handle, MDC co-Vice President, Tendai Biti, went on to allege, that Government was behind Dr. Magombeyi’s abduction.
“The regime is at it again. Last night we are instructed that it abducted the President of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association Dr. Peter Magombeyi. It is our urgent demand to Emmerson to urgently release this young man. Have you not caused enough suffering?”
A purported night vigil to pray for Dr Magombeyi’s safety by a bunch of white “friends and maybe relatives” was hastily organized on the night after his alleged abduction or it was part of the plan. But what was the motive?
However, it later turned out that Dr. Magombeyi’s abduction was evidently stage managed after South African doctors who examined him found nothing to suggest that anything resembling the effects of an abduction ever happened to him.
Shockingly, the real medical discovery, later turned to point that Dr Magombeyi has some mental challenges and other delusions that are exacerbated by his over drinking.
Chief architect in the stage managed “Dr Magombeyi” abduction, Dewa Mavhinga, working in conjunction with one big Embassy in Harare, had no option than to distance himself from the failed operation after realizing that junior doctors he had been working with chose a mental case to lead them.
While the doctors’ grievances were genuine, they ought to know that there are other workers in the country who are equally bearing the brunt of economic challenges facing the nation.
For instance the rest of the civil servants have not been spared by the harsh economic environment.
At some point in time, they have threatened and actually gone on strike, but to date they continue to engage with their employer while rendering their priceless labor to the nation.
To let people die in hospitals because doctors want to be paid in foreign currency which is not there is unprecedented and against ethics of the health profession.
One wonders if the Hippocratic Oath taken by our brothers and sister has become a fun show after all.
It should be understood that Government is simply adhering to laid down regulations and procedures by dismissing rogue elements in the public health sector - no one is above the law.
No Government or ruler across the globe would deliberately seek to impoverish its own people or workers.
Zimbabwe is rebuilding and needs progressive and likeminded forces to support the development agenda, particularly professionals, if success is to be recorded.
Government should not be apologetic over its decision to fire the 77 doctors. Government has been sincere in its negotiation with the doctors and has remains seized with the matter and many other issues affecting the country’s health sector including lack of medicines and inadequate funding for public health centres.
Despite the sincerity of Government, the doctors have refused to go back to work, resulting in many lives that could have been saved being lost.
At the back of such a situation, surely at some point in time, Government had to take decisive action to arrest the matter once and for all.
On 5 November 2019, Government announced the dismissal of 77 doctors following disciplinary hearings.
The announcement ignited outrageous reactions from different quarters over.
However, what it is important to note is the fact that due processes were followed before arriving at the decision to fire the doctors.
It should be remembered that Government has been on a robust drive to revive the country’s health sector.
Early this year in July, President Emmerson Mnangagwa commissioned medical equipment including paediatric and diagnostic machines sourced from India to capacitate central hospitals across the country.
NatPharm Pharmaceuticals has since doubled its production and supply of medicine following Government intervention.
Zimbabwe also received various medication from the United Arab Emirates and India owing to Government’s re-engagement drive.
It is only the issue of doctors’ remuneration which is yet to be resolved despite offers from the Government.
On 14 October 2019, the doctors rejected an initial 60 percent pay rise that Government had offered them while negotiations continued.
As if that was not enough, the doctors refused to heed the Court order for them to return to work.
Surprisingly, the doctors seem to have made a choice to become super cry-babies, as they have screamed loudest on remuneration issues across the entire civil service.
Although doctors play a critical role in the provision of essential health services and are entitled to the right to fight for the improvement of their working conditions and salaries, some of their demands are out of sync with the situation on the ground.
Doctors have been demanding that Government have their salaries paid in United States (US) Dollars or equivalent of what they used to earn during the US dollar era at the current interbank rate.
This demand came at a time Government has been grappling with foreign currency shortages as well as trying to contain its wage bill.
Some analysts have questioned the sincerity of doctors in wanting to resolve the matter and move forward given that Government has opened the door for continued negotiations for improved working conditions further to its offer.
The decision to defy the court ruling for doctors to return to work has left many wondering whether political sabotage was playing out in the matter as it appears there is an orchestrated agenda to halt business across the country’s health sector.
