Zimbabwe Police Arrest Striking Nurses

July 6, 2020
| Report Focus News

Harare- Zimbabwe arrested 12 nurses protesting against poor wages at Harare Central Hospital on Monday.

The nurses are demanding to be paid in U.S. dollars as inflation continues to erode their salaries.

The nurses who were holding placards said they cannot afford to work when they are earning ‘peanuts’.

“Our situation has reached alarming levels. We have been coming to work with the hope that the Government will act but to date they are silent. They are insincere we are earning peanuts” said Grace Murevererwa

Zimbabwe Professional Nurses Union Secretary General, Douglas Chikobvu says their rights are being trampled upon and has been proved by Government’s reluctance.

“We as Zimbabwe Professional Nurses Union feel that our democratic rights have been trampled given that such rights are rightly enshrined in our country constitution. We have noted with concern that our employer is too reluctant to address our plight hence such a demo was part of the efforts to pressure Gvt to table.

“Our fellow nurses have been taken and we are still awaiting to hear the reason behind them being taken by police .We totally condemn such a move and vehemently reiterate that nurses are only calling for a decent wage nothing more nothing less. Our collective demos are a signal indicating that Government should turn to the negotiation table, simple” said Chikobvu

The demonstrations, including at Zimbabwe’s biggest hospital in the capital Harare, come at a time COVID-19 cases are rising in the southern African nation, which has recorded 716 infections and eight deaths so far.