Pro Mugabe’s dictatorship: Hospital protests banned in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe acting president Christantino Chiwenga has placed a ban on the protests at hospitals and all public health institutions. The junior doctors on strike are no longer allowed picketing at the state owned hospitals.

In a statement, Chiwenga said the government would no longer tolerate public demonstrations at the medical facilities whose purpose is to attend to patients to ensure their full recovery.

These medical practitioners are no longer allowed to make public demonstrations at the hospitals over their demands for their salaries paid in U.S. dollars and better working conditions.

Read on why the doctors took to strike

The decision by the government has sparked a lot of reactions from various human rights groups. Zimbabwe human rights NGO labelled the decision as ‘illegal’ and ‘a violation of the national governance character’.

Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions tagged such a move by the government as one that exposes who really was behind the Mugabe’s dictatorship. However, the ZCTU stated that they were worried but not surprised.

A fortnight ago, the vice-president sacked over 500 junior doctors during the protest, a move which has caused the president to cut short his annual leave to restore sanity to the health sector.