As President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government struggles with a deteriorating economy, Zimbabwean doctors at public hospitals have gone on strike for the second time this year to demand better pay and working conditions.
At United Bulawayo Hospitals in the city of Bulawayo, senior doctors were only taking care of emergency cases after closing the outpatient department, according to a notice to staff.
Mathabisi Bebhe, Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, which represents more than one thousand members, said on Monday that most junior doctors at the five major hospitals had downed tools to protest over pay, allowances, and drugs’ shortages.
Government officials did not comment on the issue on Monday. The government had previously said doctors should present their grievances while at work and has relied on military doctors to help at state hospitals during strikes.
The doctors, who earn a basic monthly salary of about $385 before allowances, are also pressing the government to raise on-call allowances by 25% to $10 an hour paid in cash.
