‘Fired doctors can return to work, no need to re-apply’

Takudzwa Chihambakwe

Public hospital doctors in Zimbabwe who were fired for striking illegally can return to work without re-applying for their posts.

Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa said this after meeting Catholic bishops in the capital, Harare, on Thursday.

President Mnangagwa said, “(The bishops) requested a moratorium on the question of doctors; that can we offer a moratorium for two days for the doctors who have been dismissed, to come back to work without application. We granted the request.”

Some 448 doctors were fired for defying a Labour Court ruling ordering them back to work.

The Zimbabwe Government subsequently asked them to re-apply for their posts.