Chiwenga out of order: ZCTU

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) on Friday railed against Vice President Constantino Chiwenga for firing striking nurses, saying the former commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces was completely out of order and his actions must be condemned in the strongest terms.

In a statement, the union noted that it was a first of its kind in the history of Zimbabwe for a whole vice president to issue a statement claiming to have fired striking workers.

“Zimbabwe is well aware that the vice president is not an employer of nurses. Nurses are employed by the Health Services Board (HSB). The vice president should be ashamed of usurping the role of the HSB,” said ZCTU in a statement.

“The actions of … Chiwenga show clearly that he is out of depth and he does not believe in the very institutions, like the HSB, that the government created. His actions also vindicate sceptics who have claimed that he is not fit for the top job”.

The union said it was no secret that staff in the health sector were poorly remunerated.

“There is also serious shortage of equipment for them to be able to diligently discharge their duties. The sector is collapsing simply because career ministers like David Parirenyatwa continue to be appointed to the same ministry as if Zimbabwe is short of fresh brains. Health provision has been deteriorating under the nose of the same minister for years without any action taken by the authorities. Our calls for him to do the honourable thing of quitting have been received with disdain by authorities,” it said. DailyNews