Govt Reneges On Doctors' Land Pledge
The Government is yet to fulfill its promise made in September 2021 to offer land to medical practitioners in private practice across the country’s 10 provinces.
In 2021, the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners Zimbabwe Association (MDPPZA) wrote to President Emmerson Mnangagwa requesting land and import duty exemptions.
The Government acceded to the request and directed provincial lands officers through their respective Provincial Affairs ministries to offer land to the medical practitioners.
However, almost two years later, not a single doctor has been given a piece of land by the Government.
MDPPZA president Johannes Marisa on Thursday confirmed the issue to NewsDay. He said:
We are getting different responses from the provincial lands offices, but the bottom line is that none of our members has received any piece of land under this facility.
We have been engaging the provincial lands offices in our respective provinces with nothing coming out.
We want to take this issue above and engage His Excellency, President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
NewsDay reported that Health deputy minister John Mangwiro and ministry spokesperson Donald Mujiri were both not reachable for comment.
Over the past few years, medical practitioners in the public sector have staged strikes over poor working conditions, low salaries, and lack of resources in the health sector.
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