Parirenyatwa Begs Nurses To Return To Work, Threatens Those Who Don't

Minister of Health and Child Care David Parirenyatwa has begged the striking to nurses to return to work. The nurses went on strike on Monday accusing the government of reneging on an agreement which was reached at the beginning of this month. Parirenyatwa promised that the government is looking into ways of resolving the differences. However, the Minister went on to threaten all the nurses who do no return to work with disciplinary action.

In a statement Parirenyatwa said,

Government thus appeals to the striking nurses to call off their actions to make way for harmonious industrial relations. This is even more urgent in view of the high mobility in the country related to the impending Independence holiday period. As the Minister responsible, I thus add my voice by urging the striking staff to go back to work without any further delay, to allow Government, through its appropriate arms, to finalize decisions on the matter.

Against this auspicious background, any nursing staff which does not respond and promptly report for duty as assigned will thus be deemed in breach of contract of employment, and thus deserving of appropriate disciplinary action.

In March, Parirenyatwa had to ask President Emmerson Mnangagwa to intervene in the doctors’ strike which lasted a whole month.  The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) accused Parirenyatwa of lying and said they did not trust him to honour his word.  The doctors refused to call off the strike until they signed legal agreements. 

This is a developing story and will be updated as more details come in.