By Patson Chilemba
Ministry of Health permanent secretary (Administration) Dr George Magwende says doctors must not be self-centered, saying one can easily speculate their sense of entitlement.
And Dr Magwende said he has informed the doctors that government may not employ all of them.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Dr Magwende wondered why it was only the doctors protesting when the other health professionals equally understood the process that was currently ongoing.
“You can only speculate the behavior. There are nurses that are out there waiting. There are clinical officers that are out there waiting. There are physiotherapists waiting, the source of information is the same. The country we are dealing with is the same. Why should doctors feel to say this has taken long and, I have heard some of them say no you have to employ all the doctors.” Dr Magwende said. “They don’t need to be self centered. Why don’t they stand up and say you need to employ all the physiotherapists? So that sense of entitlement one can easily speculate. You understand? Albeit it’s a wrong thing. I have told all of them here that we may not employ all of you. It is just the way it is. Yah!”
On assertions that the UPND administration were secretly employing their cadres in the health sector, Dr Magwende said such speculations were very unfortunate, saying the problem was that everyone wanted to be a story teller, but that the strength of the Ministry lay in their transparency.
“The President did indicate the number categorically to say we are going to recruit 11,200. If we were secretive the President could have said we are going to recruit 5000 and secretly he tells us oh there is this other 6000 for whoever, UPND, MMD, UNIP cadres. Do you understand? The President is for all Zambians, he does not segregate,” Dr Magwende said. “If I were to do it secretly or in whatever way that will be an indictment on my part. You understand? So when we say the process you and I realise the process that is involved in the recruitment.”
He continued.
“First the number was given then we had to look for the budget. The recruitment of health workers is not like the recruitment of police officers. Police officers entry is one, maybe two if you want to include the cadets. So it’s very easy to make calculations. How many officers to do you, how many constables do you want,” Dr Magwende said. “When it comes to medical doctors when you want to recruit medical doctors for example alone, there is the registrar, there is consultant. When you say we want recruit 10,000 consultants, the budget is different…so now if it is a mixture because the President said health workers, meaning nurses, midwives, drivers and so on and so forth.
So these involve permutations to arrive at the numbers because if at the end of the day we say okay, we have recruited 11,200 and 5000 of them are general workers, again the same people would say, no, no, what the President said is health workers. As far as they are concerned health workers are nurses and doctors, you understand? They do not realise that for a doctor to perform well he needs a cleaner around, he needs a porter around.”
Dr Magwende said treasury authority had to be sanctioned based on the numbers that “we have versus the pronouncements of the President.”
“And I have discussed with them and I have put it across to them to say look, health workers is not synonymous to medical doctors. Medical doctors are among the many cadres in the spectrum of the health workers,” Dr Magwende said. “It is quite unprofessional that the highly educated health workers cadre who we expect to understand, and I have explained to them, they have come to my office without an appointment I have opened and we have chatted. So for those to go on the street is like kicking an already open door.”
He said what they were told at the Ridgeway campus before they embarked on their march, was the same that they were going to be told in government offices, wondering why they chose to sunbath themselves in the sun.
“I really don’t see any issue here. We may not move at the pace they want, they are in need of employment. We understand. I will be anxious as well but if I know that this process is on like I am peeling a banana and chewing it, and I explained to them, there is the Public Service Commission. There is the PSMD, Secretary to Cabinet, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, six government entities involved…it takes time,” said Dr Magwende.
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