Report by Fani Mapfumo and Nyashadzashe Ndoro
THE healthcare sector on Thursday came in full force against the alleged abduction on Saturday night of Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association (ZHDA) president, Peter Magombeyi, at his Budiriro home in Harare.
In a solidarity march organised by ZHDA in Harare aimed at showing their disgruntlement against the State, the healthcare sector, among them doctors and nurses, today marched from Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals to Parliament Building in Harare, where they presented a petition to Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda.
In an interview with Zim Morning Post, one of the senior doctors and a specialist consultant, Urologist Nhamo Allen Chiura, said most hospital jobs were done by junior doctors, hence their solidarity with them.
“The people who do the most of the jobs in hospitals are junior doctors so we are completely incapacitated during their absence. Government needs to bring back Peter and intimidation against healthcare personnel needs to stop; we are just trying to take care of our patients,” he said.
“As far as I’m concerned, I need Peter back. I don’t know where he is, and I don’t know where they put him. What we only want is Peter back,” said one of the nurses, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The solidarity march follows today’s judgment, handed down by High Court Judge Justice Clement Phiri, ordering police not to interfere with the doctors’ protest march.
Magombeyi was allegedly kidnapped by unknown assailants from his Budiriro home, Harare, on Saturday. His family filed an urgent chamber application with the High Court on Sunday, seeking an order compelling the State to account for the whereabouts of the ZHDA president.
Foreign Affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo is on record saying government had deployed security agents to search for Magombeyi.
Moyo insisted that government’s hands were clean, but expressed reservations over the timing of the abduction.
“Following this barbaric act, government immediately activated its security agencies to make sure that Dr. Magombeyi is found and safely returned to his home,” Moyo said.