Youth Minister Tinoda Machakaire has urged President Emmerson Mnangagwa to personally visit the country’s public hospitals, saying the desperate state of Zimbabwe’s healthcare system can no longer be ignored or explained away.
His comments followed an emotional hospital visit where he found a relative in distressing conditions, prompting him to speak out in what has become one of the most direct public appeals from within government ranks.
“I visited one of our public health institutions this morning to see a relative and left deeply concerned by the conditions witnessed.
“What I saw was deeply moving, a clear indication that many of our people are facing serious challenges,” Machakaire said.
“Your Excellency… please find time from your busy schedule to visit these institutions yourself. There is no substitute for seeing, listening and understanding firsthand what our citizens are going through.”
Machakaire’s appeal is a stark reflection of the collapse unfolding inside Zimbabwe’s public hospitals, long plagued by chronic underfunding, outdated infrastructure, and a demoralised health workforce.
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Many health centres are allegedly operating without basic medicines, reliable electricity, clean water, or enough staff to serve the growing number of patients.
It also comes as pressure mounts on the government from healthcare workers and unions, particularly the Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA), which has warned that the country’s health sector is in a state of emergency.
Nurses are allegedly earning salaries that fall well below the poverty datum line—a situation described by ZINA as “dehumanising.”
“Currently, the salary of a nurse remains at a paltry US$240 and an additional amount in ZiG that equates to approximately US$150,” said ZINA president Enock Dongo.
“Many are walking long distances to work, living in overcrowded rooms, and unable to feed their families. This is not only unacceptable, it is pathetic.”
Last month, nurses at Sally Mugabe Hospital staged a protest over dire working conditions, which included power cuts, water shortages, and a lack of critical medical supplies.
Many say they are forced to improvise, working in facilities that have fallen into disrepair while still being blamed by the public for delays and poor service.
ZINA is demanding that government increase nurses’ salaries to at least US$840, the equivalent of what they earned prior to the currency collapse in 2018 and urgently recruit more staff to ease the crushing nurse-to-patient ratios, which can reach 1:30 in some wards.
“Our nurses are exhausted, exposed to infections, and expected to perform miracles with no equipment,” Dongo said.
“Worse still, over 4,000 qualified nurses are being denied their academic certificates and verification letters, leaving them stranded without jobs.”
He also criticised the government’s practice of deducting high rental charges from nurses’ US dollar salaries for accommodation in dilapidated state housing, some paying as much as US$120 per month for basic rooms.
