Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. MDC Alliance president Nelson Chamisa has called on Treasury to pay the country’s public healthcare workers decent salaries, saying their current earnings are “peanuts”.
Chamisa urged Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube and Treasury permanent secretary George Guvamatanga to address frontline workers’ remuneration as a matter of urgency. Said Chamisa:
These patriots are putting their lives at risk during this pandemic only to receive peanuts as a salary.
Please use the surplus to restore the dignity of our frontline workers and civil service as a whole.
A junior doctor earns approx ZWL$28 000 a month which is US$207 at the real market rate.
This is inclusive of a COVID-19 allowance of US$70 risk allowance at paid bank rate = ZWL$6 000. This merits urgent fixing! Pay attention to what matters.
The urgency of it dawned on me last week when a young doctor who is my relative fell ill. It struck me as to what would have become of this young life.
My heart was taken to all the frontline workers who have families that look up to them for survival.
Zimbabwean doctors and nurses reportedly earn less than soldiers, police officers and prison guards.
Last year, nurses were forced to apologise to the government for embarking on a strike, demanding better pay.
