Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Harare City Council nurses have been left seething with rage after their employer settled their arrears dating as far as back as 2016 using the outdated USD1:ZWL$1 rate.
In 2018 the government separated the RTGS and USD Nostro accounts and abandoned the fixed exchange rate of USD1:ZWL$1 and introduced a floating interbank rate.
City of Harare nurses were owed between US$3 000 and US$13 000. The city fathers promised the health workers residential stands to settle the debts.
Some accepted the arrangement and others refused the stands, insisting on being paid what was owed to them.
Speaking to Health Times, one of the aggrieved nurses who preferred anonymity said she could not believe her eyes when she received ZWL$6000 instead of an interbank equivalent. She said:
The council owed me USD6000 but was paid ZWL$6000. I remember going to see Matengarufu about this issue whose dubious response was more of an alibi.
He said he found the council arrears in a mess. Like he was maintaining the mess instead of cleaning it up.
The Zimbabwe Urban And Rural Council Nurses Workers Union (ZURCNWU) took the matter to the Finance Ministry seeking recourse and clarity on this subversion of workers’ salaries.
ZURCNWU president Simbarashe Tafirenyika said some of his members received inhabitable stands in Mabvuku while others haven’t received anything yet.
Harare City spokesperson Michael Chideme said nurses can engage their management over that issue.
