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Govt Defends Army's Recruitment Of Doctors

Govt Defends Army's Recruitment Of Doctors

The permanent secretary in the ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting, Nick Mangwana has defended the Zimbabwe National Army’s recruitment of medical doctors, pharmacists and radiographers.

Mangwana was responding to a question by MDC Alliance national spokesperson, Fadzayi Mahere who had asked why the army is recruiting doctors, pharmacists and radiographers. She had added:

 The medical profession should not be militarized. This won’t end well. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter

In response, Mangwana said that was a common practice across the world. He said:

Surely, even you should know that the Army has always had doctors, lawyers and all other disciplines within its ranks from time immemorial and this is not only peculiar to Zimbabwe. It’s good to oppose but not for the heck it.

Mahere further said it was public knowledge that the Health Services Board was granted approval by the Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube to appoint 407 doctors on condition that they fell under the army instead of the Ministry of Health.
Some said the government was trying to create a system whereby doctors would never go on industrial action again.
The army has always had its doctors and some of them were deployed into public health institutions last year when health caregivers there embarked on a months-long strike over poor salaries and working conditions.
However, the number of people the army intends to recruit this time is what has prompted some to think that the move has a sinister motive.

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