adminOfficials at the hospital yesterday alleged that top level employees at the hospital had connived to keep details of the suspected suicide secret from the hospital board and the clinical director, in a bid to stop an investigation that would have emanated from the information left by the student nurse.
The student nurse, Mandlenkosi Ndlovu (38), allegedly took his life in protest over being made to fail his final nursing examination twice, by the Nurses Council of Zimbabwe (NCZ), allegedly because the council had been told that he was gay.
Ndlovu jumped to his death from the roof of a three-storey building at the hospital on Wednesday morning.
He left a note in which he named five senior employees at Mpilo, whom he accused of running a syndicate that sold examination papers to student nurses, three days before examinations.
He said they sold the papers for $600 a copy.
Ndlovu wrote the names of three student nurses whom he said were witnesses to the scam.
He alleged that the whole group, C2008 and A2009, had bought the papers.
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However, in a new twist to the story yesterday, a number of students from both intakes demanded a full-scale investigation into the matter by the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and the Nurses Council of Zimbabwe.
“I work at a private clinic in Harare. After reading that story, my employer seems to have lost faith in me and has started questioning almost everything that I do. I was in group C2008 and I did not buy the exam paper, although quite a number of people in our intake did,” said a nurse who phoned from Harare.
The nurse said Mpilo Hospital and the nurses’ council had been presented with a golden opportunity to prove that their talk about fighting corruption was not just lip service to make Press headlines.
“The man who committed suicide is said to have left a note that identified specific people. I think the hospital and the council should act on this to clear our names and get rid of corruption. They always say they want to fight dishonesty but they claim their hands are often tied because they have no proof. Let us see how they handle this one,” said the nurse.
Nurses from the other intake said they knew their colleagues who had been supplied with the leaked examination papers.
“It is sad that we are now all being painted with the same brush, when it is a few individuals who actually bought the papers. We know them and we are prepared to expose them if an investigation is instituted,” said one of the nurses.
They alleged that they often reported incidents of leaked papers to authorities at Mpilo but the issue was always swept under the carpet.
“I get the impression that many people at the hospital and the nurses council are involved in this scam because all the reports that have been made over the years have never been acted on,” said one of the nurses.
Officials at the hospital alleged that there had been a conspiracy to keep the suicide notes secret from the clinical director, Dr Wedu Ndebele, and the Mpilo Hospital Board.
“The suicide happened on the day the Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Henry Madzorera, visited the hospital for a donation that was sourced by Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe.
“If you ask him today, he does not know about it. Even Dr Wedu Ndebele got to know of the details when he read the newspaper. Thanks to Chronicle the issue is now in the open.
“Those who benefit from corruption at the hospital should now be exposed,” said an official.
When Dr Ndebele was contacted for comment on Thursday last week, he said he did not know about the suicide.
He could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Director of Nursing Services in the Ministry of Health Mrs Cynthia Zandile Chasokela could also not be reached for comment.
Online Reporter