I’m not a doctor but I can run the Health Ministry: VP Chiwenga brags

By Nyashadzashe Ndoro | Nehanda Politics |

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has boasted that he is not a medical expert but he has the capacity to run the Health and Child Care Ministry in Zimbabwe.

The VP who doubles as Health Minister said this while giving oral evidence on issues raised in the petition by the Retail Pharmacist Association who want pharmacists to be considered for administrative posts in the Ministry.

Responding to comments by Hurungwe Central Zanu PF legislator Dought Ndiweni  on why he was a Health Ministry boss when he is not a doctor, Chiwenga said his post was a political appointment.

Chiwenga added that he had the capacity to run the Ministry but not necessarily to be a technical doctor.

“Honourable Ndiweni, thanks for your comments. Yes you’re quite right that I’m not a doctor but this is a political appointment. One does not need to have a medical background to run a ministry but it is that ability that would have been looked into,” Chiwenga said.

“Having said that, when it comes to the real job we need to put the right page in its right hole. Here we are talking about the professionals and the scientists who are trained and supposed to be dealing with a particular issue which is health and child care.”

In an interview with Nehanda Radio, MDC Alliance national deputy spokesperson Clifford Hlatywayo said his party believed that the Ministry of Health is a technical department which should be headed by someone with a medical background.

“We believe in professionalism. We believe in working and rewarding expertise. We expect that ministries like health must be run by technical people. Persons with the know-how of the dots and lines of that particular Ministry.

“You cannot run the ministry without knowledge. You’re not a doctor, you’re not a medical practitioner and not even a nurse. How can you run something you do not even know because those are technical ministries?” He said.

“As MDC Alliance, we believe that people who are capable and equipped technically and academically with the knowledge of that area must run those ministries. Chiwenga is right that he is capable of running the Ministry because he is running it to the wilderness.

“That is why there is no progress in the ministry. In fact, there is no progress in the whole government because the deployment of people is based on who is who in terms of sloganeering and your history in abusing the people of Zimbabwe,” Hlatywayo said. Nehanda Radio