Tendai Maphosa, Harare
14 Nov 2003, 19:21 UTC
Zimbabwean authorities have arrested state-employed doctors who went on strike for higher wages.
The arrest of three doctors was made when they turned up for a
scheduled meeting with the government negotiating council. Spokesman for the
striking doctors, Dr. Phibion Manyanga, who is in hiding, told VOA that the
doctors were aware of the police plan to arrest them. The head of the Public
Service
Commission, Mariyawanda Nzuwa, said the doctors' demands for a salary increase
of up to 8,000 percent is ridiculous and unacceptable. Mr. Nzuwa
said even President Robert Mugabe does not earn as much as the doctors are
demanding.
He also accused the doctors of trying to gain public sympathy by deliberately
understating their income. At the unofficial rate, junior doctors now earn about
$63 a month, while their mid-level counterparts earn about $80 a month.
Under Zimbabwean law, it is illegal for doctors, who are considered essential
workers, to strike.
The doctors went on strike on October 23, after several attempts failed to get
their salaries increased. They defied a court order to return to work, saying
they first want government assurances their salaries will be increased.
Zimbabwe's health care system, once considered one of the best in sub-Saharan
Africa, is collapsing because of a severe shortage of money for salaries,
medical equipment and essential drugs. Many of Zimbabwe's doctors, nurses and
other health care professionals are leaving the country for places offering
better pay.