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Diana Nherera, Harare Bureau
Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa, yesterday assured all civil servants that the government will start paying their outstanding bonuses on Wednesday, starting with the health sector, with all payments being cleared by month end.
Minister Chinamasa said in a statement that the government was staggering bonus payments and this was necessitated by challenges encountered in mobilising money.
“The government is committing itself to paying the bonus to the health sector on January 14, the rest of the civil service on January 23 and the grant-aided institutions on February 6,” said Minister Chinamasa.
He said that payment date schedules for the normal January salaries remained unchanged.
The government has already paid bonuses to the uniformed forces and the education sector, raising anger from the rest of the civil servants who felt let down by their employer.
Nurses, that constitute about 75 percent of the health service employees, threatened to strike over bonus if there was no written communication by the government on when they would be paid by today.
Meanwhile, the go-slow by nurses at major referral hospitals such as Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and Harare Central Hospital over the delay in getting their bonuses entered its second day yesterday.
Some nurses failed to turn up for duty and the few who were present were overwhelmed by huge numbers of patients seeking assistance and those involved in traffic accidents.
Nurses’ representative, the Zimbabwe Nurses Association (Zina), said the Health Services Board (HSB) Treasury had communicated through a circular that the health professionals would be awarded bonuses on January 2, but did not fulfil their promise.
The nurses threatened to go on strike on an undisclosed date if there was no written communication on their bonuses by today.
Patients from Harare Central and Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, yesterday complained of the long hours they waited in queues due to the go-slow and called on the government to solve the bonus dispute with their employees.
Doctors stationed at the two hospitals said they found it difficult to conduct their rounds yesterday as nurses were on go slow.
Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) secretary general, Dr Farai Makoni, said some nurses failed to turn up for duty, making it extremely difficult for doctors to carry out their duties.
He said innocent patients suffered in the process.
“We found it extremely difficult to conduct rounds today with minimal assistance from the few nurses that turned up today,” said Dr Makoni.
Online Reporter