Howard Hospital saga continues with arrest of visiting Canadians

By Alex Bell

Three Canadian citizens who travelled to Zimbabwe to visit the Salvation Army run Howard Hospital have spoken out about their ordeal, after being arrested by local police. 

The three, including a former volunteer at the facility when it was run by the ousted Dr. Paul Thistle, reportedly arrived at the hospital last month and were “shocked” to see the facility with so few patients.

“We wanted to go back and see the people, our friends and get a firsthand account of what Howard was like now as opposed to what it was like before,” one of the women, Jan Corley was quoted as saying by Canadian press this week.

Corley and one of her companions began taking photographs and were about to leave when they were accosted by two male hospital employees, said to be members of the Zimbabwean branch of the Salvation Army.

The women walked away but were followed by the hospital’s administrator who ordered a nearby police officer to arrest them. All three women were then forced into a Salvation Army vehicle, driven to two different police stations and held for almost six hours.

The situation has put the spotlight back on the Howard Hospital saga, over a year since Dr. Thistle was dismissed from the facility.

The situation at the hospital has deteriorated consistently since Dr. Thistle’s dismissal, which followed concerns he raised about financial mismanagement by the Salvation Army leadership there.

The doctor’s removal caused outcry, because of the work he had done to turn the Howard mission into a highly respected medical facility. He was also considered a valued member of the community, after living there for more than 16 years.

His dismissal, which the Salvation Army has insisted was a standard ‘reassignment’, prompted a backlash from community members who protested his removal in August. That protest turned violent, leading to the police arresting scores of residents, as well as eight hospital nurses. They were all forced to stand trial over two months, and eventually one nurse was convicted.

The Salvation Army has remained steadfast that nothing out of the ordinary led to Dr. Thistle’s dismissal, and also insisted his claims of financial mismanagement at the Zimbabwe chapter of the church were unfounded.

The Church has also insisted it is fully committed to the Howard Mission, but SW Radio Africa has been told that the hospital is in a desperate situation, mainly because key international donors have withheld money since Dr. Thistle’s removal.

The doctor, a Canadian citizen, was instrumental in securing hundreds of thousands of dollars in donated cash from different charity groups across Canada and elsewhere. Without him, the money has been steadily drying up.

Dr. Thistle meanwhile defied Salvation Army orders to return to Canada, and has instead remained in Zimbabwe to work at the Karanda Mission Hospital in Mount Darwin. Since establishing himself there, thousands of Zimbabweans have flocked from across the country to get treatment at that facility. SW Radio Africa