Zimbabwe doctors union on Friday said the doctors who were fired for going on strike have rejected a government offer to return to work, reported Reuters.
The doctors went on strike on September 3 to demand better salary and on-call allowance increases pegged on interbank rates. Zimbabwe is currently facing its worst economic crisis in a decade that has resulted in resurgent inflation soaring to three-digit levels. The worsening economic situation has eroded salaries and brought back bitter memories of the hyperinflation era of a decade ago.
The strike called by the junior and middle-level doctors has paralyzed state hospitals, mainly used by the poor. The hospitals had already been struggling with shortages of drugs and other basic products even before the strike.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government responded to the strike by firing 448 doctors and pursuing disciplinary action against more than 1,000 others.
On Thursday, the Zimbabwean government offered to reinstate the fired doctors if they returned to work within 48 hours.
The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) said the last wage offer by the government would see the doctors earning a total package, including allowances, of Z$3,900 (about US$240) per month.
“Sadly, the moratorium has come without a new offer on the table having been communicated to us,” ZHDA said, explaining its rejection of the offer.
Meanwhile, on Friday, a large number of Zimbabwean lawyers came out on the streets to protest against police brutality that has escalated since President Mnangagwa came to power in 2017.
The lawyers were seen wearing black court robes and bandages smeared with tomato ketchup. They carried posters that read “stop state sanctioned violence” and “no to police brutality”.
The group marched from the High Court in the capital Harare to the Ministry of Home Affairs, where they deposited a petition, and then to the police headquarters to hand over a second petition.
