Zimbabwe: Nurses Threaten Labour Action Over Government Allowance U-Turn

Healthcare workers in Zimbabwe have threatened to go on strike after the government failed to follow through on a promise to review health-specific allowances. The Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA) president, Enock Dongo, expressed deep frustration with the government's repeated reneges on commitments. The lack of fiscal space to implement the review now risks pushing an already demoralised workforce to breaking point.

Dongo warned that the failure to honour commitments to nurses, doctors, pharmacists, radiographers, laboratory scientists, and other health professionals has reached a breaking point. Health-specific allowances were last reviewed in 2022, and since then, health workers have continued to work under difficult conditions with limited resources.

The government had promised in April that the allowances would be reviewed, with a deadline set for June. However, Dongo said health worker representatives were told at a recent meeting that the review could not be undertaken this year due to limited fiscal resources. The ministers responsible for the commitments, Douglas Mombeshora and Mthuli Ncube, were also present at the meeting.

Dongo expressed regret at the government's lying through high officials and demanded an immediate review of health-specific allowances, with backdating to 2022.