IT is shocking that consumables such as bandages can run out at hospitals, as is currently the position in Zimbabwe.
A visit to many of the country’s public health institutions does not portray a country aiming to become a middle-income society by 2030.
What the country needs now are not catchy phrases from a seemingly clueless political leadership.
There are reports that doctors across the country are contemplating to embark on an industrial action, while the country is still reeling from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The healthcare workers are not happy with the provisions of the Health Service Amendment Bill.
The Bill seeks to suppress health workers from speaking out or protesting against poor wages and working conditions.
However, the Bill, if passed into law, is unlikely to cow health professionals into accepting poor conditions of service and stop them from engaging in job actions.
Such laws create an unconducive work environment which could trigger mass resignations as health professionals leave for greener pastures.
Government should simply play ball and prioritise the well-being of Zimbabweans.
Perhaps the starting point is to withdraw the Bill as a matter of urgency.
Healthcare workers have rights which the employer must recognise as is guaranteed in section 65 of the Constitution.
The government must channel more resources to the health sector as prescribed in the Abuja Declaration. –Mukunda Chitova
Migrants treated as less humans
A STORY published in the NewsDay Weekender of April 2 titled Human trafficking victim dies in Oman, refers.
Migrant workers are often callously accused of being permanent burdens to their host/employer nations.
I, however, have noticed over decades the exceptionally strong work ethic practised by migrants, especially in the produce harvesting sector.
It is typically back-bursting work that almost all post-second-generation Westerners won’t undertake for ourselves.
Also, often overlooked is that many migrants are leaving global-warming-related chronic crop failures in the southern hemisphere widely believed to be related to the northern hemisphere’s fossil-fuel burning, beginning with the industrial revolution.
Yet they are perceived as though they are disposable human beings and, by extension, their suffering is somehow less worthy of our concern, perhaps something similar to how most human smugglers perceive them. –Frank Sterle Jr
Deal with white collar crimes
EDWIN Sutherland (1949) coined the term “white collar crime”, which refers to “crimes committed by persons of respectable and high statuses in the course of their occupations” in order to draw attention to a class of mala prohibita (wrong because it is prohibited) offenses, largely ignored by criminologists and citizens alike.
Sutherland showed that these offences, committed by members of upper classes, are crimes just like those committed by lower classes, and differed only in the administrative procedures used in dealing with the offenders.
Administered in criminal courts, street crimes are punished with relatively harsh, stigmatising sanctions, even when relatively small sums of money are involved, for example, in burglary cases.
In contrast, white collar crimes are often administered in civil courts or administrative hearings, and are usually punished with mild sanctions, even when huge sums of money are involved.
This scenario is so selective and goes against the rule of law.
Those that end up in the criminal justice system tend to be of people who have less money and less opportunity in society.
In Zimbabwe, this seems so true given that the country lost US$15 billion worth of diamonds, for example, but the people involved are walking the streets scot-free when the nation is swimming in poverty.
A few years ago, the country splashed US$3 billion on the command agriculture programme, but it has nothing to show for it.
This will not take us anyway until our leaders become doers of the word against rampant corruption crippling our economy.
It was like a chorus during “operation restore legacy” that criminals surrounding former President Robert Mugabe were the target.
Now, it is worse than prior to November 2017 in terms of criminals surrounding the President.
Some publicly boast of killing many in a country where we have so many missing persons.
Muzokomba villager
IN response to ED vows to wrest Harare from opposition, MAJID ZELENSKY says: I have been following President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s speeches since Zimbabwe went to polls in 2018 and have realised that most of them are about the opposition and never about development. It seems he is preoccupied with political power instead of ticking the boxes on his election promises. How many of his promises has he accomplished? His obsession with the opposition is blurring his vision.
JACK NYONI says: Facilitate free and fair elections Mr President and we the citizens will vote you out of Harare, come 2023.
SIBONGILE NYATHI says: It is easy to wrest Harare from the opposition. All that President Emmerson Mnangagwa needs to do is stop corruption, reform and repeal all laws that are repressive and work with and for the people. Fix roads, water, health and education sector problems. He should sit down with the opposition and plan all these things. I tell you he will become an instant hero in Zimbabwe and beyond. Whether he loses the elections or not that wouldn’t matter at all. He should put people of Zimbabwe first not politics.
IN response to ‘By-elections exposed parties’ gender biases’, TOM MTHOMBENI says: Women’s rights organisations should fight to emancipate Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga’s estranged wife Marry Mubaiwa from the jaws of the vulture. Why are they quiet when she is being persecuted?
SIBONGISENI MNKANDLA says: Is the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe saying political parties should impose candidates on voters just because they are women? Imposing candidates has dire consequences. Women should wait for donated seats. It is all about competence. There are several women who have excelled in politics who were voted for.
IN response to Bulawayo to host Uhuru celebrations, THABO MATSHAZI says: Who cares about where they hold them? What is independence when citizens are not allowed to express their views? Until our wishes are respected by those we call leaders, we cannot talk about independence.